Sports, clubs and education are all part of the BYU experience.
As graduation rolls around, students often look back on their time and remember moments and opportunities at BYU.
For many students, sports play a big role in defining their time and contributing to lasting memories.
1. BYU beats Oklahoma
Preston Plowman, a history major from Highland, said his most memorable moment was when BYU beat Oklahoma in football in 2009.
“Oklahoma had just won the national championship and then we beat them,” Plowman said. “I remember driving around campus and people were screaming and honking. A bunch of people even went down to the Provo airport at 3 a.m. to meet the team.”
2. Meeting President Samuelson
Andrew Bressler, a molecular biology major from Rexburg, Idaho, said the memory he will never forget is being able to meet BYU President Cecil Samuelson at a football game.
“Everyone on the executive board for the student alumni association was invited up to the president’s box,” Bressler said. “We got to meet President Samuelson and his family and a lot of General Authorities. It was such a unique opportunity, and it was such a great game. We were playing Utah State and were behind, but we came back and won it.”
3. BYU vs. San Diego State
Katie Wade-Neser, a master’s student from Santa Clara studying poetry, also remembers sports when she thinks of her most memorable moments at BYU.
“When we played San Diego State with Jimmer, I was on the third row screaming as loud as I could, and I couldn’t even hear myself,” she said.
Other students remember campus through changes in culture and people rather than experience with sports.
4. Mission age change
CJ Neser, Katie’s husband, is also graduating in April. CJ, a history major from San Clemente, Calif., said one of the most memorable moments on BYU was the mission age change.
“The whole school changed,” he said. “It changed the dynamic of campus. Not only were more people planning on serving missions, but people started talking more about missions in general. Returned missionaries talk about where they went; people talk about other people they know that are going; the school has become very mission-oriented.”
For yet others, the most memorable experience at BYU was being a part of something bigger.
5. Air Force ROTC
Ryan Fisher, a law student from Gig Harbor, Wash., is part of BYU’s Air Force ROTC program. He said being a part of the ROTC program at BYU has made his time here memorable.
“Raising and lowering the flag for BYU was an intimate and powerful experience — to set the tone each day on campus is a powerful reminder of the freedoms and blessings we enjoy as BYU students,” Fisher said.
