College of Fine Arts and Communications
The BYU Young Ambassadors performing group will premiere their new show “Thank You for the Music” on Feb. 24. The group hopes to offer a unique view of American culture through their dance, music and theatre.
The show will include the performance of classic songs by artists such as Queen, ABBA, Whitney Houston, Ed Sheeran, BTS and more.
“Whether humming along in our car or screaming aloud in the shower, the songs in the radio, TV, movies and the Broadway stage have made us, in part, who we are,” said BYU Young Ambassadors’ artistic director Nathan Balser.
Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering
In the Fall of 2021, BYU cybersecurity alum James Lakko started an internship for the Qualtrics’ office in Krakow, Poland.
Before his international internship, Lakko worked for Qualtrics in the United States and developed an appreciation for one of his teammates who worked at the Krakow location.
Lakko knew he could learn more from his Polish teammate than by just meeting virtually, and decided to format his own international internship experience. After working with the BYU Kennedy Center, he organized his own study abroad expectations and got the internship approved for credit.
“I’m very grateful that BYU let me go on this experience,” Lakko said. “Actually putting it all together was tough, but totally worth it. I’d recommend if someone else has the desire to do it to do it to totally take advantage and do it.”
BYU Marriott School of Business
When Casey Lawrence first moved to Provo, he was happy to learn people loved trampoline parks as much as he did. After his first startup folded, he decided to take a risk again and begin his trampoline park company: CircusTrix.
His first location in Provo was a success and his business now has more than 320 facilities around the world.
Lawrence still had to deal with the challenges that came along with the COVID-19 pandemic. His parks were closed for seven months in 2020, which caused a big financial loss, but CircusTrix was able to recover after reopening its doors.
“Every entrepreneurial venture that survives has as many experiences with failure or near-death experiences as success, people just like to talk about success a lot more,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence is a mentor for BYU students who strive to begin their own startups, and he helps them understand, prepare for and overcome failure. “My experience allows me to know how to guide students when they are making decisions. Being a mentor is a wonderful experience and I’m so impressed with the culture, energy and caliber of students I interact with,” he said.
