The following are students who were highlighted in BYU Marriott's 2024 Annual Report on page 9.
________
Upen Rijal’s path to BYU Marriott’s MBA program began on the other side of the globe. After attending school in India and then graduating from BYU–Idaho, the Nepal native worked at Broadcom in Draper, Utah, analyzing cybersecurity threats. His desire to add more business acumen to his tech skill set led him to BYU’s MBA program, where he is focusing on product management. Rijal has also stepped up to help recruit potential MBA students from India. “Since I served my mission in India, I love walking people through the program and explaining the benefits they’ll get,” he says. In summer 2024, Rijal interned at Dell in Austin, Texas, where he worked on enhancing the user experience for companies using on-premises infrastructure. “I collaborated with so many different stakeholders. That was the biggest challenge—and the biggest reward,” he reflects. Back on campus, Rijal leads a team of seven undergrads as part of Cougar Strategy Group, a student-run consulting practice. After graduation, he plans to reenter the tech sector more prepared and refined than ever. “I’ve been transformed in ways I never thought possible,” he says.
______
After serving as 2023–24 president of the Experience Design Society, experience design and management (ExDM) student Emmalyn Pykles headed to Washington, DC, as the first BYU intern at the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). “They asked very specific questions about my major in the interview. My background in experience design was a big reason they picked me,” says Pykles, who grew up in New York and Utah. As she helped the initiative plan its 2024 National Annual HBCU Week Conference—an event then-President Joe Biden spoke at—Pykles leaned into the skills she had gained in her experiential marketing course. She also appreciated the ExDM program’s class on diversity, equity, and inclusion in design. “It gave me the vocabulary and the perspective that I needed for this internship,” she says. “I learned how to approach racial issues through a respectful and curious lens.” Her path to this internship was also shaped by the Ballard Center. “Working as an internship director at the center was significant because I was teaching other students about social impact theory and designing that educational experience,” she explains. Pykles plans to graduate in 2025 and use her degree in the education field. “Seeing how my professors are creating educational experiences makes me want to do the same,” she says.
______
“My brother was my biggest role model,” says Ghana native Asante Laryea-Akrong. When Laryea-Akrong’s brother—a former Utah Valley University track star—was diagnosed with leukemia, Laryea-Akrong volunteered to be a bone marrow donor. He received a three-week leave from his mission in Uganda so he could come to Utah for the procedure; that was when he first glimpsed the BYU campus. After his brother passed away, Laryea-Akrong resolved to forge his own path in collegiate track, a goal he accomplished by attending BYU and competing in the 100- and 200-meter events for the track team. Off the field, Laryea-Akrong made a running start in the information systems (IS) program, earning a TA position and a Cherrington Scholarship—awarded to IS students who exemplify hard work and selfless service. Laryea-Akrong has now joined IS associate professor Mark Keith in conducting research on educational apps that exploit kids’ personal data. “It’s going to change the way children’s apps are built,” says Laryea-Akrong, who plans to pursue a PhD after completing his master of information systems management. “The IS major just fosters good people,” Laryea-Akrong observes. “Sometimes in school, we tend to compete. But it’s never felt like that here. It’s felt like ‘You help me, and I help you, and we both rise together.’”
______
