A Creative Epiphany

February 2020

Cannes, France, is home not only to the eponymous film festival but also to the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity, a mecca for the who’s who of creative professionals. Last year the festival hosted a group of BYU international studies students.

One student who was particularly affected by her attendance was Maddy Thompson, a student from BYU’s award-winning Ad Lab who participated thanks to the help of a Kennedy Center Global Opportunity Scholarship.

“We saw award-winning projects, listened to incredible professionals and celebrities speak about how we can create better and more impactful work, and met people whose connections and opinions might change our careers,” says Thompson.

In addition to attending the festival, Thompson and other BYU students worked on a campaign for Apple Music in London, a Halloween-themed campaign for Spotify in Stockholm, and campaigns for other brands across Europe.

“I learned that I can be whoever I want to be and, more important, whoever God has created me to be,” says Thompson of what she gained studying abroad. “In that moment, I knew God was aware of me and that He had been preparing me to have this epiphany for a long time.”