Change people's lives at home and around the world
January 2021
Kevin Sites
When Kevin Sites was granted an interview for an international studies internship with KPMG’s office in Tokyo, he had a feeling that he’d end up getting the position. That day, he called Kelly, his long-term girlfriend, and asked her to lunch. “I told her that if they offered the position, I was going to take it. Then I asked if she’d marry me,” he says.
Sure enough, Sites got the internship. And four weeks later, he also got married.
In Tokyo, the newlyweds embarked on a new adventure together. Sites developed new products and was ultimately put in charge of an IoT department managing two full-time employees. “The internship was hands-down the most valuable experience I’ve had through BYU,” he says. “Anything I’ve done since then has drawn from that experience.”
After his internship, the couple returned to Provo, and he and a friend started a company that offers a business analytics product. Sites was aiming to do another international internship for KPMG — this time in Tel Aviv — before the pandemic disrupted those plans.
Kevin and Kelly are grateful for those who helped them. “My wife and I are now setting money aside so that someday we can give back too,” he says.
Myla Parke’s donor-funded internship at the Religious Studies Center had special meaning in her life. “I love religious education. I am interested in publishing material that will help others deepen their conversion and bring them closer to Christ.”
Abby Thatcher’s study abroad changed her life, but not how she expected it would.
Hayley Whitlock was happily pursuing her dream of studying international relations and Russian at BYU when she experienced a sudden seizure that threatened to derail her plans.
