|
When Benjamin Lau, a Brigham Young
University-Idaho senior from Hong Kong, first heard about a
church school, he jumped at the opportunity to attend.
“I didn’t know a church school existed,” he exclaimed. “I
thought it would be cool to come to a school where others had
the same beliefs as I did.”
Ben came to Ricks College in 1999 and then planned to transfer
to BYU in Provo after serving his mission in Toronto, Canada.
“Everyone used to come to Ricks the year before and after their
mission, then transfer to BYU,” he said. But, the day Ben left
for his mission, Ricks was announced to become BYU-Idaho. “I
still considered transferring, but I enjoyed school here and
thought, ‘why leave?’”
As an international student, Ben admits there have been
challenges coming to the United States. “It has been hard being
away from my family, adapting to the American culture and
speaking English,” he said.
Even though there have been challenges, Ben said, “I think it’s
great being an international student. You have to work hard, but
people look up to you and you’re not the norm.”
One of Ben’s greatest accomplishments has been interning with
PricewaterhouseCoopers, a Big Four Accounting Firm in New York.
“I applied to several accounting firms including
PricewaterhouseCoopers, who wasn’t even recruiting from here. I
contacted them, they arranged for an interview and they hired
me. They asked if I had friends who would like an internship too
and they ended up hiring 10 others from here,” he said.
Because Ben was given a great internship opportunity, he became
actively involved in the Student Accounting Society by helping
students find internships. “I think this all ties back with
Elder Eyring’s prophesy that students will help each other
succeed,” Lau said.
Ben contributes much of his success to the students and facility
for their willingness to help others. He also enjoyed the small
classroom sizes where more attention was given to students.
“Brother Patterson, who teaches accounting, and Brother Gifford,
my economics teacher, have motivated me the most. I enjoyed
their teaching method which helped me become successful,” Lau
said.
Ben’s advice to students who will continue attending BYU-Idaho
is, “Take advantage of every opportunity wherever they may be,
even if it involves leaving your comfort zone, friends and
Rexburg for a semester. Learn as much as you can while you’re
here,” he said.
When asked what he will miss most about BYU-Idaho, Ben
responded, “I’ll miss the spiritual environment. Here, people
have the same values and standards as I do and you can’t find
that anywhere else.”
Ben will be one of 31 international students graduating on
Friday, December 16, with a total of 1041 students graduating in
all. |