You are the Y

I’m Cate Ducote! I am from Gulf Breeze, Florida. I just finished my sophomore year and will be starting the accounting program in the fall.

I work in the Marketing, Communications, and Technology office in the Marriott School of Business, which allows me to have a lot of amazing experiences with faculty and students. Working in the Marriott School has been a unique opportunity for me because I get to see what the school is doing to facilitate belonging and support for students.

As a convert to the Church, coming to BYU has been an interesting experience for me. When I was a sophomore in high school one of my friends started inviting me to ward activities. I became interested in the Church community and explored it for about two years. There were a lot of ups and downs along the way to finding my testimony. I finally joined the Church my senior year of high school, and was accepted to BYU starting that summer. Though BYU is far from home, which can be hard at times, I have found a community here. My advice for incoming and current students is to get involved! There are so many great people and groups to connect with. Don’t be afraid to branch out and find those that will make BYU a home for you!

I’m Benjamin Basset and I’m a physics major!

A lot of people think when you study physics that you have to separate physics from religion, but I think quite the opposite – that physics and religion are very tied together.

I’ve always been a very inquisitive person. I wanted to know how the universe worked. I’ve always loved math and science. Physics is a happy medium between all those different subjects that I love. Physics is a lot of math and computer science, and it ties into chemistry, biology, pretty much anything you can think of. I just love physics – being able to get to know the universe on an almost personal level. Like I know things fall to the ground, but now I know why things fall to the ground. It brings me closer to God, being able to better understand the universe that He’s created for us to be here. And I think He’s very happy with us coming to learn more about the things He’s created, and to be able to use them!

I’m Grace Templeton! I am from Chicago and I’m majoring in psychology.

I was Christian. I attended a Presbyterian church. I grew up believing in God. I got confirmed in eighth grade in a Presbyterian church after going through an eating disorder, but then I kind of just stopped going to church. It was the summer after my senior year of high school, and I’d gone through a lot in high school too–COVID was really hard and I was just like “God, do you still have a plan for me?” And nine months later, I was baptized. That’s definitely a big part of who I am. We encounter people whose imperfections hurt us, but we need to remember that they are also on a path, being perfected by the Savior just like us. We may feel as if we’re the only ones that struggle with money, or even as a recent convert to the church, but we are never truly alone – there are people who care, and the biggest and brightest one is the Savior.