Ke Alaka'i’s very own adviser LeeAnn Lambert shares how knowing oneself fulfills God’s plans
You never know what to expect in life, said Ke Alaka'i adviser LeeAnn Lambert. After faithfully working in her position for over two decades and finally retiring in June, Lambert—who is better known in Ke Alaka'i as Sister L—shared how seeking her identity, advocating for herself and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ helped her lead the life she has today.
The knowledge of one’s identity
“The most important thing that you need to know in your life is who you really are,” Lambert shared. She said knowing one’s true identity will change one’s perspective, and learning to love one’s identity is where real happiness lies.
Lambert said the only way to completely figure one’s identity out is by asking Heavenly Father and “getting right with God.” She said daily repentance increases the joy and peace gained from learning one’s divine identity no matter the circumstance. If these are achieved, then it doesn’t matter what the world thinks, she shared.
Lambert recalled the time she was invited to become an assistant editor for a big newspaper after being a feature writer for eight years. At the time, she was still wondering if she wanted to pursue her career in journalism or continue on with academia as a teacher, Lambert said. When the publisher of the newspaper asked her where she saw herself after five years, she said the first thing that came in her mind was, “Not doing this.”
“I had no idea that that’s how I really felt until I was in that moment,” Lambert shared. By following her heart, she continued pursuing academia and said it was such an achievement to see the students she worked with grow and learn to become who they are today. She said that though she loved being a writer, she had more satisfaction in seeing people in Ke Alaka'i gain skills, knowledge and actual experience to make themselves more marketable in life.
Advocating for oneself
“I have also learned that you need to advocate for yourself,” Lambert shared. She said if you don’t ask for what you want, you’ll never know if you can get it.
“If you want to know about something or ask somebody for something, you have to be willing to ask; and more than 50 percent of the time they’re going to want to do it for you,” Lambert said.
Lambert referred to a recent study published in Scientific Reports in which researchers asked small favors from random people. “They went around and asked people to do stuff for them, and 80 percent of the time people agreed no matter what it was,” she said.
Lambert said though advocating oneself is hard for everyone, it is particularly difficult for women to do. Still, she said, to speak and ask for one’s needs is the only way to get what one deserves. “You need to advocate for other people, too,” she said as she pointed out that she always advocates for those who work for her. She said that she especially had to learn this because she was “too much of a people pleaser” a lot of her life.
God’s greater plans
“God has a greater plan for you than you have for yourself,” Lambert shared. She said a person will always end up somewhere better than their expectations and accomplish more things than they’ve ever imagined, if they do what they are divinely inspired or prompted to do.
“Who expects to work at BYU—Hawaii?” she remarked. Lambert recalled she was sitting at her desk as a copy editor for a newspaper in California when all of a sudden she received a call from BYU-Hawaii Vice President of University Advancement Napua Baker inviting her to work in the university. Lambert felt the confirmation of the Spirit in just 15 minutes, she said. Since then, Lambert continued working in the university for two decades, she said.
What really made Lambert stay, however, was the multicultural setting connected through the gospel of Jesus Christ. “I love working with students around the world and seeing that no matter what our backgrounds are, it is Christ Himself that makes us united,” she said.
“The mission of this university is to bring people together through Christ, and so who can beat that?” Lambert said. She said it has been a joy and a great blessing working in the university, seeing her students come together with their ideas to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
