Change people's lives at home and around the world
February 2019
“Honestly, if it weren’t for help from donors, I would still be in school,” says recent graduate and new BYU employee Emily Strong. One of seven children, she was able to come to the university because of a donor-funded academic scholarship. “Mom could only help so much. Then it was on to help the next kid. It was motivation to keep my grades up.”
That scholarship was just the beginning. Strong went on to take full advantage of BYU’s inspiring learning emphasis, taking part in three mentorships before graduation, each funded by donors. “Those were a source of great work experience,” she says.
Her mentorships led to publication in a literary review journal and then to work on an editing and design team at BYU.
Strong is now employed in the Religious Studies Center, where she designs materials for many publications. “I am very grateful to have this job,” says Strong. Recently she helped with the artwork for a modern translation of the New Testament by Tom Wayment. She also worked on We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout, a biography of W. W. Phelps, who wrote “The Spirit of God” and other well-known hymns.
Many students benefit from mentoring opportunities on campus that are sponsored by donors. And although Katie King knew that her scholarship and many of the facilities at BYU were provided by donors, she was surprised to learn that her job is donor-funded as well.
Morgan Petersen had worked hard to keep her grades up as she entered her fourth year at BYU. When an expected scholarship didn’t come through, the pressure was on to find another way to finance her education.
Recent nursing graduate Shawen Bueckers registered to be a bone marrow donor. Two years later she got an unexpected call that she was a match for a one-year-old.
