BYU–Hawaii alumna is striving to be a lawyer at the United Nations and encourages current students to be prepared for life after college

With COVID-19 limiting communication and in-person contact, holiday connections may look different this year. Karl Cheney, a mass media specialist within the missionary department, explained there will be no Giving Machines this year like in the past, but there are still ways to keep the spirit of giving and holiday connection alive.

Preparation and humility were the keys to Rebecca Udoh’s success as a General Conference translator, according to Udoh and her friends. An interaction with a professor put Rebecca Udoh, an alumna from Nigeria, on the path to become a General Conference translator. Udoh traveled to Salt Lake City for each General Conference and translated the talks given from English into her first language, Efik.

John S. Tanner, the president of BYU–Hawaii and his wife, Susan W. Tanner, welcomed the parents of new students at a special reception on Jan. 3. The Tanners told parents about the divinity of BYUH and spiritual opportunities offered to students.

Editor's note: This story was written on individual people's stories, not to encourage students to return. BYU–Hawaii released guidelines on Aug. 4, saying, "Students should not move to Laie or the surrounding areas until they have been invited to do so." University information says it is following a reopening plan related to Hawaii's phased reopening plan, and will invite all students back to campus once the island is in Phase Green. Unless otherwise invited, the University has asked all students to stay home.

One of the ecological restorations taking place on Oahu is happening on the BYU–Hawaii campus. If all goes well, then one corner of campus, will look just how the island looked before European contact, said Dr. Spencer Ingley, assistant professor of the Faculty of Sciences.

Senior missionaries Scott and Jackie Slivka; Lyn and Keith Johnson; Susan and Gregg Lockhart; and Mark and Alonna Randall left Laie in March 2020, when the Church released them due to COVID-19. They shared hard it was for them to leave their missions, their hope to return soon, and what they learned from this experience by expressed their trust in the Lord.

Ho’omana Day provides students with an opportunity to be a part of something bigger and more meaningful, said BYU–Hawaii students. As they dedicated a day to service, volunteers said they felt the desire to do more to help those around them.

Several years after Rebecca J. Carlson wrote “Barley & Rye,” a 12,000-word story intended as a gift for her son’s 9th birthday, she said she found a publisher called Fiction Vortex who agreed to publish her story. Upon the publisher’s request, Carlson expanded the story to 50,000 words.