Maddie Hall, a public relations student at BYU, finds comfort in BYU's emphasis on a spiritual and service-based education.
Hall went to a year of school at BYU and then went on her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alabama. During this time she hadn’t yet declared a major, and relied on her mom to select her classes for when she returned.
“I literally was just praying that God would give her the revelation to know what to sign me up for because I didn't know what I wanted to do,” Hall said.
When Hall’s mom talked to an academic counselor, public relations and the School of Communications were recommended as a good fit for Hall’s extroverted personality.
As she took classes and became more involved with the program, Hall saw how working in PR can be an act of service — a thing that she loves about the BYU community.
“I've always loved just helping people and I've always had this thing where I don't think I could have a career unless it was actively helping people,” Hall said.
One of BYU’s mottos is "enter to learn, go forth and serve." Hall said she found that BYU’s focus on creating a Christlike community opened doors to service that may be hard to find on other college campuses.
"I love BYU," Hall said. “I feel like it's so easy to serve people here."
Another aspect Hall loves about BYU is its effort to create a spiritually strengthening environment. Hall has seen how BYU graduates have a strong testimony and use to it to help strengthen others.
“What I envision is when I graduate from BYU, you can go all over the U.S. and it's like becoming a disciple of Christ and strengthening the world,” Hall said.
During her mission in a state with fewer members, Hall realized that moving to areas outside of LDS-dense communities can make it harder to stay strong in her testimony, so she wants to make sure she continues to strengthen hers. Being a BYU student has helped her pursue this very goal.
“There's so many opportunities and experiences to really fortify your testimony that when I graduate, I feel like I'm just gonna be so solid,” Hall said.
Hall felt that BYU’s emphasis on spiritually strengthening its students and encouraging lifelong service has helped create a loving community on campus.
“We're all trying to make everyone feel loved and we're all trying to reach out to the one, and so that builds such a beautiful community,” Hall said.
Hall has even said that classes in her PR program have helped her realize God’s hand in everything and has helped her create her own community.
Hall believes that BYU helps people on their path to become more Christlike. For Hall, BYU’s Christlike community centers around love for one another and ensuring no one feels alone.
“I would love to be like Jesus, so that's what I'm striving for,” Hall said.
For Hall, BYU’s “spiritually strengthening” aim means finding God’s hand in everything and seeing how you can go out and become more Christlike. Hall has said that in each of her classes, beyond the required religion courses, professors will find a way to relate the material back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
“I think that's always cool to see how God is involved in everything, not just your religion,” Hall said.
Hall hopes that when she graduates she can apply what she's learned at BYU and strengthen her community through service and testimony. She believes every community needs that person who’s always ready to serve others in order to lift them up.