Patti Freeman knows that everyday experiences are powerful. It was an everyday experience—a casual office visit with a former professor, Doug Nelson—that changed the trajectory of Freeman’s life. Nelson encouraged Freeman not only to major in recreation management and youth leadership but also to pursue a PhD. “That thought was planted by him, and it has had an extraordinary impact on me,” Freeman shares. Now a professor of experience design and management (ExDM), Freeman draws on her vast research to teach about the power of well-crafted experiences—even the seemingly ordinary ones.
Since earning a master’s degree in recreation and park administration from Western Illinois University as well as a PhD in human performance from Indiana University, Freeman has explored many facets of experience design. While research in this field often focuses on the components of unforgettable experiences, Freeman has recently begun studying the power of everyday experiences. “So much of our lives are ordinary experiences,” she says, “and they are no less viable for big impact if they are designed well.”
Collaborating with Brian Hill from BYU Marriott and Gary Ellis from Texas A&M University, Freeman discovered an example of an ordinary experience with extraordinary impact: BYU’s weekly devotionals and forums. Freeman and her colleagues analyzed 6,000 survey responses from nearly 900 students enrolled in Experience Design and Management 300: Creating a Good Life Through Experience Design. They discovered that students who attend devotionals and forums experience some of the highest feelings of connectedness at BYU—higher than those who take part in clubs or intramurals or who go to BYU athletics events.1 The research suggests that this feeling of connectedness helps increase student retention.
The effect of devotionals is especially unique because, as Freeman notes, these gatherings are accessible to all
students—they only need to set aside an hour of their day to attend. “I tell my students that outside of church-affiliated campuses, there’s not a campus in the country—or probably on earth—that gives up prime real estate on a Tuesday at 11 a.m. to allow students to worship together in devotionals and to be intellectually enlarged through forums,” she says.
While devotionals and forums attract thousands of students, the ExDM classes that Freeman teaches are small and often take place outdoors—an ideal setting for mentoring. “That’s where I get to know students the best,” she says, noting that she often writes letters of recommendation for students applying to law school or medical school.
Freeman knows the impact that mentoring and everyday experiences can have on students. When she interviewed for a faculty position at BYU in 1999, she sat in a room with professors she’d been mentored by—including Doug Nelson. “It was very much a return to where I started,” she recalls. “I’m so thankful I made the choice to come to BYU—there’s simply not a university that compares with this environment.”
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Note
- See Patti D. Freeman, Gary D. Ellis, and Brian J. Hill, “On-Campus Leisure Experiences and Student Sense of Connectedness,” Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, and Practice, published online March 4, 2024, 1–23, doi.org/10.1177/15210251241235309.
This article is published on page 20 of BYU Marriott's 2024 Annual Report.