About Me: Nathan Holt

I am from Mesa, Arizona. I am majoring in Exercise Science and minoring in Psychology. I would have done Neuroscience, but I didn't want to have to take all the unnecessary, difficult classes. So this was my way around it.
I served in the Mexico City Southeast mission. Now I consider myself quite the Mexican food connoisseur.
I am applying to medical school in June, right after I graduate in April.
I am a coach at All-American Gymnastics. I am the head coach of the level 5 boys group, and I love my job! I have had some of these boys for 2 years now, and I love to see how they grow and learn.
One of my biggest passions is music. I am a violinist in the BYU symphony orchestra. I also love playing the piano and other instruments such as the guitar and ukulele.
I also love to travel. The coolest place I have been to is Salzburg, Austria while I was touring with my high school orchestra. It is by for my favorite place in the whole world (that I have been to so far). Some of my other hobbies include: long-boarding, snowboarding, anything associated with the lake, racquetball, TV and movies.

About Me: Morgan Homan

I grew up on a horse boarding ranch in Salem, UT. Since most people don't know what that means, it was a ranch where we kept other people's horses, not where we rustled cattle. My three loves in high school were singing, debate, and the cute red-haired girl from AZ that I met on a tour. I'm studying neuroscience, and will graduate next April. Because I'm in the process of applying to medical school, I may miss some days of class here and there for out-of-state interviews. I work in a research lab on campus studying learning and memory with Dr. Jeff Edwards. I am also a TA for two molecular biology labs per semester. I also volunteer each week with a hospice group, Utah Valley Hospital, and as an assistant coach for the local special needs hockey team at the Provo ice arena.

I served a mission in Boise, ID (after visa waiting for Mongolia, which ended up shutting down to foreigners for two years). I've been married for two and three quarters years, now, and we have one extremely chubby baby boy named Levi. He is almost ten months old, and he doesn't crawl--he scoots. I wanted to name him Leviathan. My wife wouldn't let me.

About Me: Spencer Smith

My name is Spencer Smith, as you can see in the title.  I am studying biology and am in the process of applying to Pharmacy school because 4 more years of school sounds like a good life choice.  I am the oldest of 5, 4 boys and 1 girl (adopted from Taiwan where one of my brothers in currently serving a mission.)  I served a mission in the incredible South Dakota Rapid City Mission.  It covered all of North AND South Dakota, and about a third of Minnesota, Wyoming, and Nebraska.  We also had parts of Iowa and Montana (for those of you reading this and counting, that is 7 different states).  I enjoying reading, watching movies, and playing board games (ones that require thinking).  If you want to know anything else about me just ask!

About Me: Trevor Renshaw

I hail from Iowa, the city is not important since you wouldn't know where it was even if you were from the dang state. I went to Chile for a mission and like learning languages both coding related and spoken ones. My goal in life is to not have to work anymore and do as little as possible to get there (I'm not lazy, I guess I should qualify that with I am not always lazy). I do freelance web design and other 'computery' things for cash money. In the evenings you can find me at home putting off homework or riding a bike. I read once and a while and I look at my guitar to remind myself that I once knew how to play so that is good enough. Sleep seems to have become more of a passion in recent years as well as some racquetball on the side. I like puppies too. I just want to graduate.

About Me: Ben Himes

As you may have guessed from my post title, my name is Ben Himes! I'm 23, and I'm studying Mechanical Engineering. I'm from Pleasant Grove, Utah, and I now live in South Provo with my wife Annie. Annie and I have a pretty typical BYU love story. We met in our freshman ward at Helaman Halls, and fell in love playing Ultimate Frisbee, and swimming together. We've been married a little more than a year, and life is fantastic!

I served an LDS mission in Bogota Colombia and loved it! So many different kinds of people and life-styles. Some of my passions include but are not limited to: listening to and finding great music, snowboarding, spending time with my family and friends, longboarding, reading a good book, making and eating delicious food, exploring new places, and wrestling with my little brother.

Some of my goals are to graduate BYU, become a Bio-mechanical engineer, travel the world, raise a family, ride an elephant, wrestle a crocodile, penetrate an impenetrable fortress, go to the Olympics for synchronized swimming, redefine the unthinkable, find Waldo, simply walk into Mordor, play Badminton with the Emperor of China, and to someday visit Spain.

I'm excited to be in this class! As a Mechanical Engineer I haven't done much writing in my major, so I'm looking forward to learning and and improving.

About me: Xirong Zhang

My name is Xirong Zhang. You can call me, Ryan. I was born in Nanning, China, which is known as Green city in China. I love my hometown, and it is really beautiful.  At the age of 16,I moved to Winston Salem, North Carolina, where I finished my high school career. After graduation, I came to BYU to study Chemical engineering. This is my third year in chemical engineering. Beside school, I love to do tons of things. I love landscaping, outdoor, cooking, investment, and real estate.
I am convert to the Church. When I was 17 years old, I joined the church. It was one of the tough decisions that I had ever made, because I am the only member in my family. I could saw miracle changes in my life because I chose to join the church. Being a member has blessed my life in many different ways.
First,I was able to study in one of the most prestige university in the nation that I not only gain an education but also grow spiritually.
Second,being part of BYU nation, it brought me to see the world. This summer, I did study abroad with group of engineering student and professors in UK, France, Italy, and Greece. One of the highlight of this trip, we visited the Valero refinery in Pembroke, and the London headquarter in London.
Third, I could see the tolerance toward the LDS religion from my non-lds friends and family.

About Me: Beth Jenkins

My name is Beth. Not Bethany, not Elizabeth, just plain Beth. I recently got married so my last name will be changing from Spencer to Jenkins, but I am still in the process of switching it so either could appear... sorry for the confusion! I was born and raised in Colorado and think that it is the best state because it is so beautiful. I enjoy most anything outdoors and am a HUGE dog lover. About a year and a few months ago I returned from serving a mission. I was called to Campinas Brasil, but waited 14 months in Knoxville, TN for my VISA, and then went down to Brasil for 5 months. Technically in school I am a junior, but I just switched my major from elementary education to computer science so I have quite a bit of time left. That is pretty much just the basics about me.

About Me: Anne Fitzgerald

I am a senior studying Athletic Training, hoping to graduate and become a certified Athletic Trainer by April 2017. My family resides in Midway, Utah, most commonly known as the place where you can go tubing or visit the ice castles. I love being able to visit the sweet escape that Midway is and spend time in the mountains.

I served a mission in Guatemala and absolutely love speaking and learning Spanish. Sometimes my English and Spanish get a little mixed up, so taking classes on both subjects at the same time is going to be very interesting.

A fun fact about myself is that I once went scuba diving in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the same day.

About Me: Jacob Larson

My name is Jacob Larson (Jake). I am from Lindon, UT and have been at BYU for a little over a year now. I transferred from Snow College. I have been married for 2 and a half years. I met my wife at Snow and we have been inseparable ever since. I love to mountain bike and play disc golf.

Once I graduate, I hope to get a job at Orbital ATK and build rockets. This is my dream job.

About Me: Landon Hobbs

My name is Landon Hobbs. I was born and raised in Preston, Idaho, where I worked at the "Napoleon Dynamite" chicken farm from ages 11-16 before my family moved to Tremonton, Utah. I am the oldest of six children. At the ripe age of 19, I served my mission in the glorious state of Washington in both the Spokane and Kennewick missions. After returning home from my mission in June 2014, I attended Southern Utah University in the Fall and was engaged to my beautiful wife in November. A few weeks after transferring to Brigham Young University, we were married in American Fork, Utah, inside the Mount Timpanogos Temple.

I am currently in the midst of medical school applications. I interviewed at the University of Arizona School of Medicine- Phoenix on August 29th, and look forward to my scheduled interviews at Baylor, University of Virginia, Mayo-Scottsdale Campus, and UCLA.

About Me: Chris Hoskins

Hi my name is Chris Hoskins. I am from Ohio and am in the Mechanical Engineering program here at BYU. I just finished my summer internship working for Air Force Research lab. On my spare time, I like to work out and hang with my friends.

About Me: Kristen Jones

My name is Kristen Jones. I am from the smallest and best state, Rhode Island. I am a senior majoring in Public Health and minoring in Portuguese. If all goes according to plan, I will graduate in April. I love the ocean, traveling, and cooking. I served my mission in Florianópolis, Brazil and now, I love all things Brazilian. I am oldest of 4 children and the first person in my family to attend BYU. I have been at BYU for way too long now but I have loved every second of it! 

Fun Fact: I walked 70 miles in 5 days in Northern Spain this summer with some of my friends. We carried everything in our backpacks and it was a blast! 

About Me: Zack Finch

Hey everyone, I'm Zack Finch! I'll keep this pretty simple yet try not to bore you. I was born in the beautiful state of California and raised in toasty Arizona. For a brief time I lived in Hawaii on the island of Kauai and served my mission in Guatemala. I grew up with three older sisters and my mother, so I've pretty much always been the man of the house. I love health related matters, I'm an EMT and I also work at the hospital. I'm all about the outdoors and activities like camping, rock climbing, swimming, and pretty much any sport. I look forward to expanding my abilities with writing.

About Me: Madison Richards (Heap)

Hey! My name is Madison, but I go by Mads. I am a junior here at BYU studying Broadcast Journalism. I have absolutely LOVED my experience here and feel so lucky to be part of this university.

I recently got married in the Los Angeles Temple to a guy named Brad Heap from Mesa, AZ (I think a few people in our class might know him). We've been married for four months today (YAY!) and it's been pure bliss so far. As for the rest of my family...I am the middle of three girls, so there is a total of 5 in my family. They all live in California - my mom and sisters in LA and my dad in SD.

In my free time I love to read, write, walk, bike ride, travel, find pretty views, and eat. My favorite food is french fries. I do not like sweet potato fries, but I will eat the ones from Guru's just because their fry sauce is out of this world. I love Five Guys plain fries (none of that Cajun business), and I also really like Mooyah's fries. If you have any suggestions for good french fries in the Provo/Orem area please let me know! I could talk french fries for hours.

I am majoring in Broadcast Journalism, and I am minoring Family Science. I hope to graduate and go on to get a Masters in interior design and then combine my undergraduate and graduate degrees to work in lifestyle television. HGTV...TLC...anything like that, but we'll see what happens!

I'm pretty sure that's all you need to know about me. Thanks!

About Me: Travis Gengler

I come from a family of six and I am the oldest of four siblings. My father is in the army, and because of this we had the opportunity to live in quite a few different places growing up, most notably Alabama, Texas, Alaska, California and Brazil. It is hard to say which place I preferred, since I have fond memories of each place I have been. 

I am pursuing a bachelor degree in Computer Science with an Emphasis in Bioinformatics. Whether or not I will end up using that emphasis has yet to be seen! Luckily, my experience has been that programmers are always employable. This last summer was particularly exciting for me, as I was married to my wonderful wife in June. We enjoy spending time with family and friends, and on occasion, we like to hike and enjoy the natural beauty Utah has to offer.

About me: Hailey Wayment

My name is Hailey Wayment. If you are confused because my last name appears as Peatross it is because I recently got married and have been too lazy to play the name changing game with BYU. My husband Tyson is also in the class this semester so don't be confused by that either.
I grew up in a small town in eastern Utah called Duchesne, my family lives in Lindon Utah now so I claim either. I am a senior at BYU and am studying Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation. My love of wildlife comes from my early childhood where my mom worked on a dairy and my grandpa was an avid outdoors man and fisherman. I am most interested in birds and large cats and hope to have a future career in conservation and research of either group.
My hobbies include reading, running, hiking, and a new found fondness of fishing (mostly because I love to eat fish). I love being outdoors and I am much more comfortable working physically then I am typing on a keyboard. I'll admit writing is definitely not one of my gifts, but I do enjoy the opportunity to express myself is a little different light.

About Me: Collin Sanderson

My name is Collin Sanderson. I'm from Raleigh, North Carolina. I love the beach, and in another life I would have better skin that can handle being in the sun, so for now I enjoy what I can. I'm a neuroscience major, and I'm planning on going to medical school. Whether I go into clinical medicine or research is undetermined. I have dreams for either, so only time will tell what doors open up. I married a wicked smart Nursing major who is now graduated, and she and I love discussing the sciences and medicine, and we thrill in our mutual nerdiness. I have an incredible passion for research and I'm involved in two research labs, one on Telomeres, and the other on peptide analog synthesis. I honestly have a difficult time telling about aspects of my life other than my research and love for the sciences. But my hobbies include a love for music, namely playing the piano, singing with my wife and reading Brandon Sanderson books together (a distant cousin of mine).

My name is Jacob Fullmer. I am from St. George, Utah. I am a unconventional student in that I came back to school after working in construction for eight years. I am married with an incredible wife and three awesome kids. I Came back to school in pursuit of a job that I am passionate about as well as one that is more stable and family friendly. I am in the Wildlife conservation Degree focusing on being a wildlife biologist. My background is comprised of mostly outdoor interests and experiences. Hiking, camping, fishing and hunting are all part of what makes me, me. My love for these hobbies comes from the ideology that these hobbies are something that can be done and should be done with family and close friends. My time in the outdoors has helped me gain a appreciation for our natural resources and especially our wildlife. I plan for my future to be involved in the conservation and management of wildlife.

About Me: Nicole Naatjes

My name is Nicole Naatjes and I'm an Exercise Science major. I'm a senior and am currently in the process of applying to Occupational Therapy schools. I get married a month from today to my best friend! Yay! I'm a pole vaulter on the BYU track team and absolutely love it, so I'm going to be sad to have to end my track career after this year. I love challenging myself and pushing myself to the limit.

My two favorite places are Minnesota and South Korea. I grew up in Minnesota and love the green and the lakes in the summer and the snow in the winter. I served my mission in Korea and now love all things Korean, even Kimchi (if you haven't tried it, you're missing out).

About me: Tyson Wayment

My name is Tyson Wayment. I am from Warren, UT, which is the same small town that Bethany is from. I grew up on a beef ranch, which has fostered my love of animals and helped me decide my career. I am currently in the Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation major and am studying to become a veterinarian. I am finishing up the application process now and hope to hear of my acceptance early next year.
My hobbies include mainly outdoor activities. I love spending time in the mountains where I can hike, fish, camp, and go hunting with my family. I also enjoy playing board games and reading books when my time allows. My favorite time of the year is the Fall so I am definitely excited for the cooler weather and especially the changing of the leaves.

About Me: Paul Baker

My name is Paul Baker and I am what most people call a super senior here at BYU. I am studying Physiology and Developmental Biology, planning on attending Medical School. Something unique about me is that I was once arrested in Canada for smuggling firearms into the country. It's a long story and not as exciting as it sounds, but it's a fun icebreaker story. I love anything outdoors; skiing, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, etc. I'm also a sports fanatic, both playing and watching.

My future plans are subject to change, but I would love to someday be an Orthopedic Surgeon, working for some sort of professional sports team. I also want to visit Rome, Alaska and the Himalayas one day.

About Me: Bethany Hardy

I'm from a tiny little town just west of Ogden, Utah that only two of you know exist. I received a BA in English literature from Southern Utah University, and I served a mission in Spokane, Washington. Currently, I'm pursuing a graduate degree in rhetoric and composition. If you're not sure what that means, we'll learn all about it this semester. My current research interests are social movement rhetoric, composition pedagogy, and business writing. I've had the opportunity to do professional writing, but I hope and expect that your individual experiences in the workplace will also inform our discussions.

In the evenings you can find me working at the Provo City Library in the Children's department. Because of this, when I'm not pursuing my academic and professional interests, I'm often listening to juvenile fiction and reading picture books. If I'm not doing any of that, I enjoy a variety of outdoor recreation, and I'm definitely going to miss summer.