As the main character in her own story, Crystal Tania shares the plot twists that have created her own Hawaiian roller coaster ride while studying communications at BYU-Hawaii
Crystal Tania, a communications major from Indonesia, knows people won’t remember what she says at the Fall 2023 graduation as the nominated student speaker but believes they will remember how she made them feel, she said.
During her internship in Boston over the summer, Tania said she helped the company’s new employees. The day after conducting a training, a woman approached her by the elevator and asked if Tania was from BYU-Hawaii. “I was shocked,” Tania said. Most people, if they ask, assume she goes to UHManoa, Tania explained. She asked the woman how she had known. The woman told Tania she had visited the Polynesian Cultural Center a month prior. The same feeling the woman had felt interacting with BYUH students at the PCC she felt during Tania’s training, she said.
Surely she had forgotten what was said to her at the PCC, speculated Tania, but she remembered how she felt. As she moves forward in life, Tania said the biggest thing she will have taken away from her time at BYUH is the Aloha Spirit.
Communications
The first class she took in her major was intercultural communications. She said it helped her with the culture shock she felt when she came to BYUH. “I learned that people do things they grew up perceiving as normal,” she said, “and so do I.” For example, eating a bag of chips with a pair of chopsticks might seem weird to some, she added with a laugh, but to her it was a good way to keep her fingers clean.
She said a reading in the class about a society called Acirema was very impactful to her. People in this society put pig hair on the end of a stick to put in their mouths, she explained. They also have potions that can change their appearance. “Turns out Acirema is America spelled backwards,” she said. The pig hair on a stick was a toothbrush, she explained, and the potions were things kept in the bathroom like makeup and hair products. “I saw [those things] as weird, not knowing it was me too,” she said, adding that the reading solidified her desire to be a communications major.
Will Gombos, the senior program manager of learning & development at Moderna, the pharmaceutical vaccine company Crystal interned with over the summer, said Crystal is “incredibly welcoming and puts you at ease.” Wilma Imanuelia, a senior studying business management, grew up with Tania in Indonesia and is her unit mate. Similarly to Gombos, Imanuelia said Tania is good at communicating and connecting with people. It is no wonder her major is communications, Imanuelia said with a laugh.
“I cannot speak highly enough of her,” said Gombos. Tania’s willingness to push outside of her comfort zone and be undaunted by challenges stuck out to him, he said, while they worked together. He said rarely do interns connect with people beyond their team, but Tania developed relationships with people in other teams and upper management.
Battling imposter syndrome
Faculty deans nominated students to be the graduation speaker. The nominees were interviewed by Academic Vice President Isaiah Walker, and then offered assignments such as saying prayers or giving the student speech. Tania said when she got the first email from Walker, she thought she was in trouble. “Turns out it was the opposite,” she said with a laugh, and a few days later received another email telling her she had been chosen to be the commencement student speaker.
Public speaking is something she has loved since high school, Tania said. “It would be a humbling opportunity and honor to do that one last time before I leave this sacred place,” she said. As excited as she was to speak, she said it took several days before she got the courage to write the talk. “Imposter syndrome is one of my biggest enemies,” she said, “but in the last few years, I’ve learned how to combat it.”
“Imposter syndrome is the evil whisper in your head saying you are not enough,” explained Tania. In the days after being chosen, she said she wondered if she was really qualified to be the student speaker. She saw friends posting graduation photos and inspiring stories, she said. Compared to them, she said she wondered if she was the right person for the job.
Many of Tania’s skills are very hard to teach people, said Gombos. Her ability to be curious and ask questions comes naturally to her, he explained, and he would tell the doubts in her head that she already has the abilities she needs within herself. The nagging feelings of self-doubt are not gone, Tania said, but she has been better about facing them. “I know I’ve worked hard to be in this position, so let’s not look sideways,” she said.
Tania titled her speech “Navigating Life’s Plot Twists” and shared one paragraph that was her favorite part. It read, “We are all the main characters of our stories. Heavenly Father is the director and producer. Our struggles, as I like to call them plot twists, are necessary for character development because main characters are never boring. Luckily, we have professors and mentors who care about us, acting as the guides in our storylines. Just as movies leave us eagerly anticipating sequels, our lives hold the promise of exciting adventures beyond.
A dream fulfilled
At the groundbreaking of the school, President David O. McKay prophesied that from this place will go forth men and women of genuine gold. “I would never on a daily basis call myself genuine gold, you know?” Tania laughed. “But I’m proud to be part of that prophecy.”
Gombos said Tania made a cultural impact at Moderna. The company, he explained, believes in creating a space of belonging first, then inclusion. With those two ingredients comes diversity, he said. Tania brought this equation to life, he added, and her personality drove home the idea of starting with belonging.
Going to school at BYUH was a dream fulfilled for Tania, she said. She loved the grandiose things, like Culture Night and Food Fest, she said, but will really cherish the small moments. “Walking through the McKay hallway and saying, “Hi,” to everyone I pass by is a favorite moment for sure,” she said. “When else can you pass down a hallway feeling like a celebrity?”
Volunteering at school events, interacting with professors, friends who become your family, cooking in the hale’s and walking home from the temple with wet hair were all the small things she said made time here a meaningful experience. Imanuelia said they love going to the beach, taking selfies and creating memories. Tania can vibe with anyone, Imanuelia said, and so they are always vibing.
The first time Tania applied to BYUH she was rejected, she said. She was told they had reached their quota for IWORK students that semester, but she had good credentials and was encouraged to apply again. “It still stung,” she said. Her high school friends were accepted to universities and had plans while she took an unexpected gap year, she said.
“Looking back, I don’t regret that year. It was what I needed,” she said. She got a job doing administrative work for expatriates, she explained, which helped her open up to diversity and communicate with people from other places.
Getting to BYUH
Tania’s father is a BYUH alumnus. She said she grew up hearing stories from him about BYUH and saw his Facebook friends from around the world wishing him happy birthday. “I liked that,” she said, “but it wasn’t until I was 12 that I made up my mind to go to BYUH.”
A BYUH Admissions representative came to an annual church youth camp in Indonesia Tania attended, she said. Imanuelia was there with her and said Tania asked the representative a lot of questions. After that, the two of them worked hard and would check in with each other on their progress to get into BYUH, Imanuelia said.
After that meeting, Tania said she was motivated to do well in Seminary and English. Similar to a spelling bee or mathlete competitions, there are English competitions in Indonesia, she explained. Tania said her high school English teacher saw a lot of potential in her and encouraged her to join a competition hosted by a prestigious English prep school.
“I always try to bring my 101 percent to everything I do,” said Tania. It started as something to try out, said Tania, but after she won the first round, she said she thought, “Oh, I guess I have something in me. Let me work hard to win.” She did win, Tania said, first place. She and her sister both got the prize of traveling to Hong Kong.
