Rebekah Walker, an anthropology lecturer at BYUH, had a hunger for knowledge that led her to Pacific Island Studies. She said a defining moment in her life is when she read “Coming of Age in Samoa,” by Margaret Meade. “Having read it, I was so angry that it made me want to know more about who wrote this book. What is their authority to tell Samoans what it means to be Samoan?” Walker reflected on this experience, saying it drove her to learn more. As an undergraduate, she was angry at first, but said, “The more I learned, the less angry I was, and the greater my understanding of people and about how knowledge is made. I learned how to see information from different points of view and I could respect and appreciate other people’s perspectives.” This revelation has given Walker perspective on being a student and a teacher. “If your schooling is not fun, then what are you doing?” she commented. “It shouldn’t be painful. It should be something that makes you happy, and something that interests you, and something that the more you learn, it makes you a better person.” Walker explained when you learn about other people, it forces you to reflect on who you are. When you know who you are, you no longer feel challenged by those who do. You respect yourself, and therefore, respect others, she said.When asked what piece of advice she would give to a large group of people if given the platform, Walker quickly replied with, “Be nice. No matter what you think you know about someone, or what you think about a certain topic, or what you think about who you think should be doing what. There is no reason not be nice to someone. Because you never know what you’re being nice could mean to that person.”“Being at a church university, it allows you to have one commonality. We can all be different races, different genders, different ages, from different places, different ethnic groups, different languages, but then I can always bring everybody back to the same page of being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So, when I talk about being nice, it’s basically just being Christ-like. If we practice the Savior’s teachings, we’re not judging others, demeaning others, etc.”Walker said her greatest legacy will be her children. “If they grow up to be kind, caring, nurturing people, then I have done something great.” She said her children have been taught and reinforced the idea of appreciating difference. “As a parent, my job is to try to not break [my children]. It’s to help them be the best of who [they] already are.”
Writer: Morgynne Tora ~ Multimedia Journalist
