BYU Students: A Unique Light

“My little brother Damian is brilliant, coolest person I know, He's also on the autism spectrum. As his sister, I love that neurodivergent students like Damian can thrive at BYU. The professors and students are so supportive, so ready to connect and understand differences. Because of BYU, Damian and I are now equipped to tackle complex problems the world really needs help with.”

Remembering his late father, Atiki says, “He always told me to work hard, do your stuff, respect each other. So, I always miss those things he told me. I want to make sure I do them. I have to do them because my dad told me to do them. I just miss him a lot.”

“A stutter and Tourette’s were always my weaknesses, but God helped me channel those into beatboxing, which is now one of my biggest strengths. BYU helps me use that strength to inspire people around the world."

“God has a reason for me coming down here to BYU. I don’t know the purpose right now, but I’m just trusting God to lead the way,” says Gideon. We see part of the path that God is leading Gideon on, and it is an inspiring one. He has recently led a Sneakers4Africa shoe drive and has sent over 5,000 pairs of shoes back home to Nigeria.

“There is no point in studying language if you are not helping others. Colonization and language stigmatization have pushed these cultural worlds to the brink of extinction, and we have the opportunity to write them down in the wake of their erasure. Losing a language is more than losing a series of phrases, you lose an entire world."

Speaking of the trials that he and his siblings went through as children, Payton says, “So some people will look at it as a negative, but I always looked at it as a positive. I am so grateful for the way I grew up. As well as those stories, even though they were rough points, but just being independent and being able to know that I’m going to be okay through some hard times.”