Article co-written by Brogan Houston and Mario Miguel.
Education Week at BYU-Idaho is almost over. Here’s a recap of Friday’s events, including the devotionals and a summary of a number of classes. For an overview of Thursday’s events, see Thursday’s article.
Keynote Speaker: Beth Baldwin
Beth Baldwin works as the director of human resources at BYU-I. As one of the keynote speakers at Education Week, she shared stories from her life that taught her valuable lessons.
Baldwin shared the story of the day she received her diagnosis of colon cancer. To the surprise of many audience members, she called it a “great day.” She clarified, saying that it was miraculous that the medical professionals detected the cancer before it was too late, allowing them to treat it effectively.
She also shared the story of how, at one point in her life, she’d felt persistent promptings that she should go back to school in pursuit of a master’s degree.
Although she felt that it didn’t make logical sense at the time, she followed the prompting and went back to school. Throughout her time in the master’s program at Utah State University, she was motivated by the fact that she knew that that was where she needed to be.
Baldwin shared several other stories of times when she’s seen God’s hand in her life, and declared that He’s there for His children when they need help.
Why Am I So Tired? And How to Fix It: Amy McDougal
As a doctor of pharmacy, Amy McDougal has dedicated her career to treating the root of her patients’ problems — not just the symptoms, as many doctors do. At Education Week, she spoke about the most common roots of fatigue and gave suggestions on how to fix them.
One symptom McDougal frequently treats is lack of sleep. She addressed that at Education Week by teaching a “belly breathing” technique, which, she says, is how babies and animals tend to breathe, but due to stress, adults tend to breathe differently.
McDougal also shared dietary tips to help people have more energy. She suggested eating vegetables before eating carbs. She also talked about a variety of vitamins and their functions, in addition to where they come from.
Additional Streams of Income & Side Hustles to Make Your Money Stretch: Trina Boice
As a best-selling author, a professor at Arizona College of Nursing, an adjunct professor at BYU-I, a podcast host, a movie critic, a real estate investor and a professional mystery shopper, in addition to many other side-hustles, Trina Boice knows how to make money from a variety of things. At Education Week, she shared tips on how to use existing skills and tools to make extra money.
Boice showed a list of roughly 200 ways to make money from side hustles. It included dozens of fields of interest, as she wanted to guarantee that everyone could take something from her lesson. She shared tips for drivers, authors, artists, writers, shoppers, investors, web developers and more. She plans on writing a book about the list someday, so it’s not publicly available.
Healing Fractured Families Through the Power of Family Stories: Cindy Bezas
Having grown up in a contentious household, Cindy Bezas decided that she was going to raise her kids differently. Her parents screamed a lot, she said, so she decided to never scream at her family members. Bezas also decided to get her master’s degree, choosing to study the impact of stories in healing trauma.
To start the class, Bezas shared a personal story of a time she was resilient, followed by the lesson she learned. She then had the audience pair up and share their stories of resilience and the lessons they learned.
Bezas also had the class share family members’ stories of resilience. She shared that adolescents who can recount their parents’ stories have higher self-esteem and greater resilience.
She shared a formula for resilience: Stories + Gained Interest = Resilient Healing.
Insights from the New Testament Part 2: Brent Schmidt
Brent Schmidt, a professor of Greek at BYU-Idaho, gave insights from the New Testament from his own translations of the Greek text.
In his class, Schmidt presented several New Testament verses in their original Greek text followed by the King James translations. He then shared his own translations and the Joseph Smith translations. Schmidt observed that the Joseph Smith translation closely matched what he believed was the correct Greek translation.
One of the most notable verses he analyzed was 2 Peter 1:16, which in the Greek version contains the word “epoptai,” which can be translated to “an eyewitness who had passed through the veil in the Greek temple.” Schmidt said this shows that the apostle Peter underwent the endowment.
He also noted that 1 John 5:7-8 is not found in the earliest Greek manuscripts. It was added in the Middle Ages to justify the Catholic and protestant view of the Trinity.
Keynote Speaker: Mindy Davis
Mindy Davis is a religion professor at BYU-Idaho. She taught about the importance of lifelong learning, beginning her devotional with a question: “Why keep learning?”
She said that the Doctrine and Covenants provides three reasons to keep learning:
1. To be saved (D&C 131:6)
2. Knowledge stays with us when we die (130:18-19)
3. To feel peace (D&C 19:23)
She quoted Joseph Smith, who said, “A man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge.”
She elaborated on three main concepts of learning:
1. We can learn wherever we are
2. We can learn by asking questions
3. Anyone can learn
She also gave three learning hacks:
1. Pray
2. Study your scriptures
3. Write it down
At the close of her devotional, she invited the audience to ask themselves daily: “What’s something important I’ve learned?”
Education Week continues with a performance Friday evening by Molly in the Mineshaft.
Saturday’s activities include: an art lesson on how to makeavatar family portraits, planetarium showings, ropes course activities and fitness facilities.
