“Have the courage to be a beginner again.”
Dance major, K-Pop, starting university at age 27, “Hot Pot”… All unique things that apply to one person who doesn’t “fit the mold.”
Kathryn Douglas, a graduating student, shared powerful testimony that God’s plan for His children is individually tailored. She paraphrased Elder Uchtdorf’s remarks to young adults in February 2025: “I always think about connecting the dots — you don't see how it looks until you look backwards,” recognizing that “[God’s] timing is better than what I could have imagined.”
Kathryn’s unconventional journey began when she graduated with her associate’s degree in dance from an Arizona community college. After earning this degree, Kathryn made the decision to take a job at a law firm before continuing her education. While this choice was different from many of her peers, she felt that being debt-free at a university would be better than jumping straight into more school.
During this transitional period, Kathryn discovered the beauty of the Korean language through K-Pop. That discovery prompted Kathryn to learn to speak Korean and discover “a scholarship offered by the Korean government where, if you had two years of college education, you could go teach English in Korea to … underprivileged communities out in the countryside.”
After much anticipation and prayer, she not only received the scholarship, but also her acceptance letter to BYU, which she had submitted as a “back-up plan.” Hesitant to apply to BYU in the first place, let alone attend, she decided to pursue her Korean scholarship and put her university education on the backburner.
Kathryn spent two formative years as a part of the overseas program, saying it was there that she fell even more in love with the culture and language of Korea. When she returned, she had a renewed desire for learning and motivation to progress, leading her to accept her spot at BYU.
At this point, everything in Kathryn’s life was pointing her to major in Korean, a stark contrast from the dance degree she had pursued years earlier. But regardless of her past accomplishments, she still felt nervous for the next step. “Coming back to school at 27, [I felt like I was] going to be a newbie … I hadn’t been in school for a long time,” she admitted.
Even though it would have been easy to let that fear be paralyzing, she was courageous in the face of “being a beginner again.” She had been through this with moving in the middle of high school, working in a law firm, living in a different country and learning a completely new language. She took her courage in stride, leading her all the way to her graduation with a degree in Korean this spring.
Kathryn had powerful experiences at BYU, extracting so many “pockets and treasures of knowledge” through her time living in the Korean foreign language housing. This opportunity led to her continued involvement as a program director for study abroad exchange students from Kyung Hee University, a sister school in South Korea.
Kathryn is passionate about the diverse opportunities provided at and around BYU. Whether students take an elective course on floral design or world religions, she is passionate about the fact that every experience is for the greater good. She mentioned the fact that she has taken various “random” classes like basic ASL. While that didn’t directly correlate with her desired path, it helped her grow in unique ways that prepared her for the future.
In addition to channeling her love and passion for Korean, Kathryn was able to combine her love for Korean culture and dance by joining a local hip-hop crew called “Hot Pot.” Being able to use hip-hop as an outlet and not for a grade was a key part in her success while at BYU. She said that dance “was still there to teach me things, but in a way that I could be in charge of my own learning … and creativity.”
She advised current and future BYU students to “be true to yourself and pursue your goals, but also … give yourself space to branch out and try diverse things,” just as she did. She bore powerful testimony that God is in control and that He will direct each of His children to accomplish everything meant for them.
