"Taxing Experiences"
April 7, 2022
President Henry J. Eyring
April 2022 graduates of BYU-Idaho, congratulations! It is an honor to salute you. Your years of effort have come to fruition. In addition to your personal sacrifice, many other people have played essential roles. They include extended family, faculty members, other university employees, fellow students, and the tithe payers of the Church.
Now you are looking to the future. It will be engaging and rewarding, but it will also be challenging, even taxing.
I thought of that several weeks ago while preparing to submit my family’s tax returns. To be honest, I waited longer than I should have. It may be necessary for me to request an extension from the United States Internal Revenue Service. That is like a blustery day which turns to heavy rain.
The word “tax” has several meanings. One of those is “a compulsory contribution to state revenues.” Compulsory means “required by law or rule.” In plain terms, it means “you must contribute.” Taxes are a fact of life.
Another common definition of “tax” refers to burdening someone emotionally. For example, it is not uncommon for a parent to say to an unruly child or teenager, “You are taxing my patience.” Even mature adults can seem unreasonable; they may even be confrontational.
Our Savior taught us to avoid such emotional and spiritual traps. We cannot afford to become angry or vengeful. We must strive to qualify for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, our essential Comforter and Guide. The Savior declared, “In your patience possess ye your souls.”[1]
No mortal has been so self-possessed and faithful to our Heavenly Father. The Savior paid the tax of sin for all mortal men and women, even the best. As Paul declared to the Roman Saints: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”[2]
Since my recent failure to timely file taxes, I have been giving thought to various forms of “taxation” that—largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic—taxed members of the BYU-Idaho family in recent years. Three categories among our campus community come to mind: faculty members, students, and roommates.
The first category is the sacrifice made by university faculty members and course designers who, beginning two years ago, worked overtime to create virtual online and hybrid courses, thus allowing students to make continued academic progress when face-to-face instruction was not advisable.
As time went on, these instructors taught face-to-face classes, with students being invited into the classroom on a rotational basis. I would like to invite Professor John Fisher to share his experience.
Thank you, President Eyring. Though it was taxing, our experience was helped by the spirit of collaboration to make the most of the challenges that both students and faculty faced.
Because of efforts made years in advance by aligning campus and online classes such as BIO 264, 265, 180, and other courses taught throughout the university, we were largely prepared to quickly make a switch to the remote setting. This preparation allowed us to focus our efforts on the individual students during this taxing time.
Immediately upon learning that we would be transitioning from a face-to-face to a remote environment, my attention was directed towards the well-being and needs of the students enrolled in my courses. I reached out individually to each of my students letting them know that I was ready to teach and support them during this difficult time.
What was inspiring to me was that I noticed that the faculty within my department, college, and across the university shared this concern and that we were willing and ready to work together. We felt guided by the Spirit in the details that go into teaching and mentoring our students.
I saw many professors make efforts to meet virtually one-on-one with each of their students, hold virtual office hours, and improve teaching activities to support our students. This meant that we tirelessly worked to adapt courses to include virtual learning activities that were impactful.
I still remember figuring out how to teach human histology. I asked myself, how do you teach a course on the microscopic view of the human body without a microscope? Adaptations were made to teach the remote course using a virtual microscope and digitized microscope slides allowing us to meet the course objectives while being remote.
When situations improved to allow some face-to-face gatherings, we again were given opportunities to teach in even more settings. We learned how to teach face-to-face with students in front of us while simultaneously teaching students attending the class virtually via Zoom. We even did all of this while wearing a mask. We are a better university today because of the challenges that we faced.
Another praiseworthy group are the students and university employees who wore masks for the better part of two years. Over time, mask-compliance waned. Yet many devotional attendees soldiered on to the end, wearing face masks until only a few weeks ago. That was when the Church announced a carefully considered, locally-managed return to normalcy. I have invited Jessica Banks to describe her experiences with COVID precautions.
COVID-19 began at the end of my third semester here at BYU-Idaho. As I learned to readapt and relearn how to do what I had done as a student not under mandates, I saw a lot of growth in my ability to change based on my circumstances. As I adjusted my learning to social distancing, mask wearing, and attending via Zoom, I was able to succeed just as I would have without the pandemic.
As I did my best to faithfully follow the rules, I saw a lot of blessings including the greatest blessing of never getting sick or having to quarantine for extended periods of time. Being able to stay well assisted me greatly in being able to earn the degree I am receiving today.
The painfully long-suffering students, though, were the roommates of infected colleagues. They voluntarily joined in their colleagues’ quarantines, though many of them remained healthy. One of those graduates is Alec Aultz.
Dear friends, all of us have pushed through a taxing time. Together, and with the help of our Savior and the Holy Ghost, we have persisted through a lengthy trial. Going forward, when life taxes our patience, we might look back gratefully on the fortitude and optimism that revealed our ability to succeed when we might have thought it impossible. I look forward to seeing your success as disciples and leaders throughout the world. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
4
[1] Luke 21:19.
[2] Romans 3:23–24.