The first structure on what is now the BYU campus was the marble-clad neoclassical Karl G. Maeser Building, set high on the southwest corner of what was then called Temple Hill and just a quarter of a mile from where the David O. McKay Building would be constructed four decades later.
Though its front faces east, the Maeser’s west side is also designed to welcome—a beacon to the wider community symbolizing everything a fledgling university hoped to become and all that its leaders hoped to teach their students. “Be yourself,” Maeser once urged his charges, “but always your better self.”1
More than a century later, as BYU celebrates its 150th anniversary, the Maeser Building is still a beacon on a hill. It glows through night skies, distinctive even amidst dozens of other campus structures, including the nearby home of the McKay School of Education, which prepares professionals who seek not just to become their own “better selves” but also to instill those ideals in their students and clients.
As they become “bilingual”2 in the languages of education and of the Spirit, McKay School students themselves become sources of light, and their impact shines on “a world yearning for hope and joy,” as BYU’s “For the Benefit of the World” message reads.3
In part 1 of a two-part series, here are the stories of a few of the McKay School’s own beacons of light.
Scott Miller, Special Education
As a young teacher, when Scott Miller plans lessons and presents activities, he is working from the reams of knowledge he has gained through study at the McKay School.
But Miller, a special education major, has a deeper well to draw from to help his students thrive: personal experience.
“I’m pretty introverted and sometimes have social anxiety, so people might not see why I chose to become a teacher,” said Miller, who has ADHD, autism, and Tourette’s syndrome and who calls himself a disability advocate. “But I feel that whenever I get into teaching mode, or whenever I get around my students, something changes. I get a lot more upbeat and excited, and I feel a lot more passionate about helping and teaching these different students.”
Miller deeply resonates with the idea of a Savior—a Master Teacher—who understands each person’s struggles, hopes, and goals because He, Jesus Christ, experienced them too. Miller said the insight born from having special needs himself is an advantage in his chosen career.
“I want to be able to get down on their level, and I think that’s something I can be doing. I can be a light and benefit others,” he said. “I thought, ‘I can make a difference to kids who are struggling with the same things that I am.’”
With Christ as his exemplar and life experience as his guide, Miller tailors classroom experiences to individual needs, building each student’s belief in their potential.
“Whenever I go into schools, I start thinking, ‘What would Jesus Christ do in that case?’” he said. “He knew these people. He took time to get to know them, and He knew their needs. . . . I’ve tried my very best to exemplify that Christlike attribute in my major.”
Brady Rowley, Educational Leadership and Foundations
As a newly appointed administrator of K–6 schools for Alpine School District, Brady Rowley had every desire in the world to help elementary principals excel in their jobs—but he also saw that desire alone wouldn’t be enough.
“I just felt this prompting that I needed to really increase my ability and understanding. I just felt that as a leader, I wasn’t quite prepared to really do the work that I’m assigned to do,” Rowley said.
He signed up to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the first step in applying for graduate school. That very night he felt “really impressed” that he should enter the McKay School’s Educational Leadership and Foundations program.
“It just became very clear that that’s where I needed to be,” Rowley said—particularly after he had the opportunity to do research work in Ecuador and Peru with fellow McKay School students and faculty.
“I walked away from that experience thinking, ‘I love being in education, I love working with children, and I love that we have very common experiences, no matter where we’re at,’” Rowley said.
At BYU, Rowley has also seen the unique and sometimes surprising role that faith can play in professional settings.
“In the last couple of months, I’ve had experiences in which I’ve either approached the experience having no faith or having full faith,” he said. “The difference in the way the experience came out really was determined by my faith and how I approached the situation. Light comes when we truly believe that Christ is the light. As we trust in Him, He really can help us.”
Rowley now feels more qualified not only to supervise principals but to help them grow.
“I believe the impact that we can have—and that I’m gaining from BYU—is that I can become a better leader, whether it’s in the classroom, in schools with principals, or in church as an ecclesiastical leader,” he said. “No matter what space I’m in, I’m becoming a better person in the way that I live. I feel I am being challenged in the way that I think, and I’m improving my skills as a leader.”
Kimmi North, Communication Disorders
But Kimmi North, an undergraduate communication disorders major, has gained some of that light the hard way.
“Being a light and helping others comes in the imperfections,” North said. “In the Communication Disorders Department, we are pushed to points of failure—which I maybe wouldn’t push myself to without being here.”
As a first-generation student, North struggled at the beginning of her education. She almost didn’t return to school after serving a mission, but she came back following a spiritual prompting. She decided to “say yes to everything” and became deeply involved in student life and in her major—and that made all the difference, she said.
Growing emotional, North acknowledged the discomfort of deep challenges but added firmly that she was grateful for them.
“I think that a lot of times we’re trying to be this perfect image that doesn’t really exist,” she said. “It can be really hard getting caught up in that.”
Failure and challenge have taught North that adversity is inevitable.
“That’s just a part of the process of growth and part of the process of becoming like our Savior,” she said. “It’s just learning to keep moving forward no matter what. Life is hard! The hard stuff comes up. And being a speech therapist, I’m going to be dealing with people going through really hard stuff, with big challenges in their lives.”
While North will not be able to understand every challenge her clients have, she will understand struggle and disappointment—and, thanks to her McKay School education, she will understand that no one working through a struggle needs to do it alone.
“I know what it’s like when things are hard,” she said. “If we’re trying to be a beacon of light, it’s trying to be like Him—to keep Him in our life. If you’re able to reflect Christ’s light, you’re able to show that to people, maybe even without saying words.”
Notes
1. Karl G. Maeser, quoted in “Dr. Karl G. Maeser—Some of His Sentence Sermons,” Millennial Star 70, no. 29 (16 July 1908): 452.
2. Spencer W. Kimball, “The Second Century of Brigham Young University,” BYU devotional address, 10 October 1975.
3. “For the Benefit of the World,” BYU brand message, brand.byu.edu/foundations.