News Releases 

Claudia Barillas was 12 years old when her family moved from Mexico to Los Angeles. Despite her struggle to learn a new language and culture, Barillas found support in her newly discovered faith community, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where members encouraged her to pursue higher education and embrace her culture. Those mentors changed Barillas’s vision for her life: “I wanted to do the same for others,” she says.

Kate Shriber, a senior from Pleasanton, California, was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Since she and her companion couldn’t go out to teach people in person, she served by making videos about the gospel and sharing them on social media, ultimately discovering an unexpected passion: marketing.

After being pulled from Afghanistan in 2021, Major Jake Johnson realized that the only factor he could control in his service was his level of dedication. Now an assistant professor of military science for BYU’s Army ROTC, Johnson hopes to inspire students to recognize the impact their service can have regardless of location or task.

Kristen Hansen, a strategy student at the BYU Marriott School of Business, is learning to be intentional about her relationship with technology. “If my body and mind are always on social media, I’m not enjoying the natural, beautiful parts of the world,” she says. Realizing that she is not the only one wrestling with technology use, Hansen hopes to use the tools she is acquiring as a strategy student to help others address their digital habits.

Facing an increasingly competitive job market, business students may wonder how they can stand out after graduation. Some students at the BYU Marriott School of Business are turning to the Marriott Student Review to diversify their skillset and gain communication and leadership experience to boost them along their professional journey.

It was in the aftermath of a devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Talcahuano, Chile, that Josue Bustos—then serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—realized what he wanted to do with his life: help those in need.

Stuart Christiansen didn’t consider himself to be a “stereotypical army guy.” But while studying linguistics at Brigham Young University, he felt pulled into joining the Army ROTC because of its many language-based career paths. The transition into the ROTC lifestyle wasn’t simple, but Christiansen believes the ensuing challenges have led him to discover new strengths and capabilities.

Lisa Jones Christensen’s career has taken her through several industries: investment banking in San Francisco, business development in Silicon Valley, humanitarian and nonprofit work in Honduras, and teaching organizational behavior and human resources at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the BYU Marriott School of Business. Her motivation for personal, professional, and global impact is simple: It’s all about seeking continual growth.

For 12 years, accounting alum Michael Parker worked contentedly in public accounting. Then he got a taste of company finances and realized he wanted to be a part of a growing, new company. “I was more of a caretaker, and I wanted to be a builder,” he says.

Kjerstin Roberts was teaching high school English in Jacksonville, Florida, when she decided to get her MBA. While her dad had been praising the benefits of the graduate degree for years, Roberts didn’t realize that an MBA would also introduce her to a career path that she hadn’t anticipated: getting a PhD and becoming a college professor.

Kenji Sugahara has lived on five different continents and seen that people’s similarities are often more important than their differences. His passion for building connections brought him to the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, where he hopes to gain the tools he needs to make an impact in international development.

Human resource management alum Nathan Shatzer is a firm believer in taking full advantage of opportunities to help others and learn new skills. During his time at BYU Marriott, he got involved in the BYU chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management—and continues to connect with its members, this time as an alumnus.

Sydney Rasmussen began the experience design and management program eager to make an impact—she just wasn’t sure how her skills fit into that vision. Now in her final semester at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Rasmussen has built confidence in her ability to make the world a better place by aligning her individual strengths with real-world needs.

In March the BYU Marriott School of Business administration recognized a graduating student from each undergraduate program with the Bateman Award for their exemplary dedication to the BYU Marriott values, commitment to academic excellence, and profound drive to serve others.

Christina Muhlestein Bates had a track record for going for what she wanted, until a bad experience working in business left her unsure of her next step. Feeling a little stuck, she decided to earn an MBA from the BYU Marriott School of Business, where she discovered she had gained the skills, network, and knowledge to do and become anything she wanted.

When the School of Accountancy was made aware of a potential gap in teaching methods, they designed two new courses—hoping that the hands-on learning opportunities would help students bridge the gap between knowledge and application.

According to Trent Williams, life is like a hike; instead of being a linear process, life is more of an emergent experience that we discover step by step. Williams says that remembering that God understands each unanticipated twist and turn has been key to learning from unexpected experiences as they come.

As a practicing Muslim, Arizona State University student Mohammad Awwal has sometimes found it uncomfortable to incorporate his faith at work. “Muslims pray every day, even during work hours. So for me, in an environment where it’s kind of taboo to talk about your faith, when I need to take maybe a couple of minutes off to have my prayer, then it becomes a very discomforting experience,” he explains. His situation has made competing in the 2025 Faith and Belief at Work MBA Case Competition not just a theoretical discussion but a personal reality.

From the time Alaina Bryce Pauga got her first job as a teenager, work has been something she looks forward to. Now a senior in HRM, Bryce hopes to help others experience that same enjoyment in their work, no matter what their job may be.

When Thomas Smith was a junior studying information systems at the BYU Marriott School of Business, he was determined to find a summer internship where he could build upon the lessons he was learning in his classes. But after sending dozens of applications and hearing nothing back, he wondered what more he could do. He decided to focus on creating connections and networking, eventually finding opportunities in unexpected places.