By Scott Johnson
Evening classes offer students an opportunity to maintain work and still receive a valuable educational experience at BYU.
Brian Hellyer, a mechanical engineering major from Tacoma, Wash., said evening classes provide him with an opportunity to work and still take some classes. Hellyer is just one of more than 4,000 part-time students at BYU. Part-time students made up more than 13 percent of the student body during the Fall 2003 semester.
“Life is life, it”s not terribly difficult,” Hellyer said in regards to the balance between work and school.
Hellyer sells educational products during the day to help support his family. Evening classes allow him to work and accomplish his educational goals.
Evening classes also give students an opportunity to try to gain formal admittance into BYU as a full-time student.
BYU allows students who are not formally admitted as full- or part-time students to enroll in evening classes. However, students who take evening classes and have not been formally admitted must be at least 23 years old. Just like the official student body, these students are also expected to obey the Honor Code and abide the same standards.
Hellyer is taking seven credits while trying to gain admittance as a full-time student. He said the BYU experience is still enriching, although they are some drawbacks.
“I have to pay $20 to play intramurals,” Hellyer said. “I can only take 8.5 credit hours each semester.”
Evening classes start after 4 p.m. and can stretch until after 9 p.m., making late nights for some students.
“I would rather go in the morning,” Hellyer said. “They [the professors] are understanding of your schedule and are willing to help.”
Many professors are working professionally in their fields in addition to teaching part time at BYU in the evenings. Hellyer said this makes the atmosphere less stressful.
