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Meet Kathryn Gourley

Character Building

Kathryn Gourley

HOMETOWN: Pleasant Grove, Utah
MAJOR: Therapeutic Recreation
FAVORITE GROUP: U2
FAVORITE BOOK: Mother to Mother

If life were a long hallway, Kathryn Gourley would poke her head in every open door. "When I was really young, I wanted a little black baby doll so badly my mom had to special order it from California. I have always been interested in other cultures."

Kathryn found a great open door when she came to BYU. "I saw an ad from the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies for a program in Zimbabwe," she relates. Joining 15 other students, Kathryn went to Africa to spend from 10 to 20 hours a week volunteering at AIDS orphanages. "It was a good experience for me and prepared me for research on street children. I just fell in love with Africa."

She recalls a BYU class about international issues she took the semester before she went to Zimbabwe. "It really opened my eyes to some of the problems of the world. I'd been so used to having everything I needed at my fingertips."

"I've forgotten how hard it really was," she continues. "I spent five months in schools in East London, South Africa, where students were on different levels in their age groups; all you could do was one on one. The culture shock and what the kids were going through was pretty difficult. We'd go to bed at 8:00 p.m. every night," she adds, "because it was so exhausting."

Kathryn says she learned two things from her experience in Africa: "First, I don't have to go 10,000 miles to find people who are in need. There are people right here at home I can help. Second, I want to convey to my children an open-mindedness about cultures and issues that people in other countries face and teach them to help anyone in need regardless of their background."

Kathryn is still opening doors: This past summer she went to the Philippines with UNICEF to help with its street children project, then headed to Cambodia to help with a literacy project.

She'll soon start a master's degree in social work. But before she packs her bags, she stops and looks back: "I feel really blessed; I've had all these opportunities because I came to BYU."


Character Building

Establishing the school in 1875, the founders of Brigham Young University resolved to build a place where faith and learning were fully integrated. After more than a century of progress, the university's mission is still constant—to advance truth and knowledge and to provide an environment that will build the faith and character of its students.

More than 29,000 men and women from all 50 United States and over 100 foreign countries now attend Brigham Young University. They are people of faith, integrity, and character.

Christian teachings and ideals are central to campus life and are reflected in the university's core values and in its Honor Code. As part of the Honor Code, all BYU students and faculty, regardless of whether they are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commit to live honest lives, to be chaste and moral, and to avoid alcohol, tobacco, and harmful drugs. For BYU students, living the Honor Code is a matter of integrity.


JACOBSEN CENTER FOR SERVICE AND LEARNING

The Jacobsen Center for Service and Learning supports reflective and applied learning by fostering meaningful service opportunities on campus, in the local community, and around the world. The variety of opportunities supported by the center include volunteer service programs, course-related service assignments or curricula, service internships, and international service programs. Such service is mutually beneficial, meeting real community needs and providing a rich context for experiential learning and personal development.


INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITION

BYU competes in the Mountain West Conference, with the men's intercollegiate program involving 10 sports and the women's program including 11. Nationally ranked in many sports, BYU has won NCAA national championships in football, golf, track, cross-country, and volleyball.


EXTRAMURAL COMPETITION

The extramural sports program at BYU provides opportunities for students to participate on an intercollegiate level throughout the United States and Canada in team sports not designated NCAA. One of the best organized and most respected programs in the country, BYU's extramural sports program offers four sports for men and one sport for women. Many of the teams have been nationally ranked.



"A firm, unchangeable course of righteousness through life is what secures to a person true intelligence."

– Brigham Young


 

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