With the end goal of becoming a lawyer, second-year MPA student John Lidang knows he isn’t following the most linear path by earning a master’s degree at the BYU Marriott School of Business before applying to law schools. But for Lidang, getting an MPA is less about his career aspirations and more about his desire to become a Christlike leader.
“I think the Lord understands me as somebody who first becomes curious about a thing, and then when I view that thing with an eye of faith, He leads me to make choices,” Lidang says. “What has led me here is following little crumbs of inspiration.”
The events that led Lidang to BYU Marriott started in his teenage years when he moved to the United States from the Philippines. Shortly after moving, while swimming in his new apartment building’s pool, Lidang met missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I was getting little bits of inspiration from the Lord, where I just felt good about what I was learning,” Lidang describes.
Lidang chose to be baptized and become a member of the Church, where he gained a community and network with Church members. Lidang served a mission himself in Hawaii and returned as a student at BYU–Hawaii working toward a degree in political science in preparation for law school. But as he explored the MPA program at BYU Marriott, Lidang decided to postpone his juris doctorate.
“I started to shift my focus to who I could become,” Lidang says. “I can become a lawyer by going to law school, but I want more than just a career. An MPA in addition to a JD can help improve not only my career prospects but also who I am as a person overall.” Specifically, Lidang was interested in developing leadership attributes from a program founded on gospel principles. “I trusted BYU Marriott and was drawn to the school’s values and commitment to excellence,” he says.
In the MPA program, Lidang developed the skills for managing resources and creating strong teams. “One of the main principles I’ve learned as an MPA student is knowing how to work with people and, more importantly, to learn their individual stories and be inspired by them,” he says. For Lidang, working with others also includes asking questions and relying on the expertise of those around him.
Drawing on help from others and his own passion for language learning, Lidang started Nexum Language Immersion, which connects language learners to native speakers. Lidang is an accomplished polyglot—fluent in seven languages and conversant in fourteen—but originally felt less confident in his business background.
“I started with just an idea, and I asked more questions than I could get answers to,” Lidang says. “I’ve learned that true wisdom lies in realizing that we can always learn something from the people we meet and the experiences we have in our lives.”
And Lidang hopes to continue meeting more people around the world throughout his career. “I want to connect people around the world and concentrate on elevating and improving the lives of as many people as possible through faith, philanthropy, and service.” His dream after earning both his MPA and JD is that his education and experiences will transition into establishing an international language business. “I want to lead an organization that does something good, and I’d love to travel and tell people one-on-one that they matter,” Lidang says.
A Filipino proverb encourages Lidang in his goal to help others: “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan; the one who doesn’t learn to look back to where they’ve come from will never reach their destination.”
Lidang recognizes the trail of inspirational crumbs he has followed—learning about the gospel, making decisions about graduate programs, and even starting a business—on his way to reaching his goals and learning about leadership. “I’ve learned the Lord has a customized plan for me—different from what I expected and certainly different from others,” Lidang says. “Understanding this has helped me to not compare my path with someone else’s, but to enjoy the journey. My job is to do my best wherever God takes me and have fun along the way.”
