Applying for graduate school, much like biking a 430-mile relay, requires hard work, determination, and perseverance. Brandon Benally, a first-year MPA student at the BYU Marriott School of Business, hasn’t been afraid to accept either challenge. Since his acceptance into the MPA program in 2020, he has continued to work hard and apply principles of perseverance as he’s prepared to strengthen community healthcare systems.
Benally works hard to train and compete in cycling races, both by himself and with his family. One of his favorite events is the Salt to Saint Relay, a 430-mile race where teams bike from Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah. “Six of us family members participate in the ride, and we take turns biking,” he explains. "The ride lasts twenty-four hours, so we start on a Friday and bike all day and all night. There’s something special about riding with my family and spending time with them doing something that I love to do.”
When Benally’s not on a bike, he works hard to achieve goals in his professional life, such as succeeding in the MPA program. “I didn’t get the best grades as an undergraduate student, but I felt like education was important, and I wanted to keep learning,” he says. “After earning my BS in molecular biology in 2017, I went back and took some additional undergrad classes to improve my GPA before I applied to the MPA program. I consider getting into the BYU Marriott MPA program to be my proudest accomplishment because I had sacrificed time with my family in order to work and join the program.”
Benally chose to earn an MPA degree at BYU Marriott because he loves the program’s mission of building future leaders. “A friend told me about the MPA program, and I connected with the mission statement to providing service and being a beacon of change in the world,” he says. Since Benally earned his undergraduate degree in molecular biology, he shares that he wants to make an impact in the world of healthcare.
Benally taught principles for a healthy life as he’s volunteered with different organizations. “I recently was a program manager for a kids oral health program on a Native American reservation,” he says. “My fellow volunteers and I went around to different schools to teach kids how to brush and floss properly, and we taught them about other aspects of oral health.”
He hopes to apply lessons from experiences like these in his future career. “I'm Navajo, so I would love to be the liaison between the federal government and the tribal healthcare system,” says Benally. “The federal government controls and helps regulate the tribal system, and having the ability to build collaboration between the tribal system and the federal government can bridge gaps and help the relationship.”
As Benally works toward his career goals, he hopes to apply leadership lessons from the BYU Marriott MPA program to impact the world of healthcare. “When I think about leadership, I used to think that people were natural-born leaders. However, as I’ve been involved with the MPA program, I've come to realize that people can develop the mindset or skill set to be a leader with the tools that the program gives them,” he says. “I’m thrilled to be developing the skill set that I’ll need to be able to lead and help others moving forward.”
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Writer: Kenna Pierce
