Winter 2024 Honors Scholars

Pictured above, left to right (top row) Marshall Butler, David Chandler, Ruth Larson; (bottom row) Kelsi Niepraschk, Ben Quist, Emily Rodriguez

The Honors Program is pleased to announce the Winter 2024 Honors scholarship recipients. Each semester, the Honors Program awards scholarships to students who have demonstrated Academic Excellence through their service and scholarship. These students are all currently engaged in their Honors thesis research and have contributed to the Honors community in a variety of ways. Read more about these students’ experiences below, and click here to learn more about Honors scholarship opportunities.

Khona Scholarship

Kelsie Niepraschk
Major: Experience Design & Management
The Honors Program has fit particularly with my desire to stretch my limits, the bounds of my knowledge, and potential biases towards certain ways of thinking. I originally came to BYU with the hopes of studying vocal performance, but following my mission I knew that Heavenly Father had a different plan for me. After a lot of prayer, I applied and got into the Experience Design and Management Program. The Honors Program has helped me maintain connections between my now business major and music minor. As a byproduct of being immersed in interdisciplinary thinking, I’ve gained confidence in my professional life. I’ve been able to hold onto my musical passions while also securing my dream job post-graduation.

For my thesis, I am researching Transformational Learning Theory and applying it to the redesign of EXDM 415, Experience-Centric Management. Through my major and the Honors Program, I’ve learned the importance of immersion and hands-on learning for success. Following my consulting internship this last summer and my enrollment in EXDM 415 last year, I saw some needs within the coursework. As I began working with the professor as a teaching assistant, we worked together to ideate the potential for the 415 course. I have the unique opportunity to work directly with professors to make suggestions and outline the revised EXDM 415 class. I have accepted a consulting position at a firm in Seattle and this thesis is acting as a catalyst towards that position.

Robert K Thomas Scholarship

Marshall Butler
Major: Manufacturing Engineering
After 5 years and 72 classes, I am grateful to finally be in the homestretch. I feel like I can truthfully consider myself an "interdisciplinary scholar" as I've been able to take a diverse blend of classes while at BYU, including six art classes, six business classes, several in political science, and studied four different foreign languages all while working on my manufacturing engineering degree. At the heart of all that was the Honors Program, where I learned to make connections between vastly different subjects. I absolutely loved each of my Honors classes. Serving on the Honors Student Leadership Council was also a highlight because of the many service opportunities it opened up for giving back to the program that did so much for me.

When it came time to choose a thesis, I picked one that blended my interests in medicine, business, and manufacturing engineering. I am doing research in using process improvement principles I learned in my manufacturing classes and applying it to the context of improving the patient experience at the BYU Student Health Center. I hope to help future students that go there have positive experiences and get the best medical attention they can.

After getting my bachelor's degree, I plan to get a PhD in either Biomedical Engineering or Business Management (I am applying for both programs) so that I can hopefully become a leader in a healthcare related company someday. Part of what makes a great leader is being able to understand lots of viewpoints and then connect people from different backgrounds to achieve a common goal. I think the Honors Program has equipped me with a new mindset that helped me in each of these things. Because of the Honors Program, I have been a valuable asset to companies I've worked for and am more prepared for graduate school than had I not been in the program. Looking back, I don't think I could imagine a BYU experience without it.

David Chandler
Major: Linguistics
My thesis is titled, “here-, there-, and every where-: Exploring the role of pronominal adverbs in legal language.” Pronominal adverbs are words like hereby, therefore, and whereof. These words sound legal, and many academics have claimed them to be legal words, but there is little quantitative research to prove this assertion. The purpose of my thesis was to use corpus linguistics to prove that these words are legal and to better understand how and why they exist in legal contracts, statutes, and court opinions.

The highlight of my Honors Program experience was getting to present the results of my Honors thesis at the BYU Law and Corpus Linguistics conference last fall. I was incredibly nervous because I had never presented in such a professional atmosphere, but the time and effort I put into writing my thesis and practicing the presentation paid off, and I was able to explain my results with ease. I walked away from the experience with a newfound determination to attend graduate school and continue to make important contributions to the legal linguistic discipline.

After graduating in April, I plan to get a master's degree in Applied Linguistics and Teaching English as a Second Language with the goal of doing research in legal and forensic linguistics. My Honors thesis helped me to get accepted to some of my top choice grad schools. I am currently in the process of deciding which school to attend in the fall.

Ruth Bodily Larson
Majors: Public Health and Spanish Studies
I’ve lived all over the US, but I claim Louisiana as home. I’m the oldest of four daughters, and I just got married in August. My husband and I enjoy cooking together, playing board games, reading novels, and exploring Pawnee, Indiana.

I have had fantastic experiences in the Honors Program, from analyzing the New Testament for stories of sin and disease to making card games about logical fallacies. One of the highlights from my Honors Program experience was reading the book The Making of the Atomic Bomb in the Physics-Culture Unexpected Connections class last semester. I enjoyed getting to know the scientists, like Niels Bohr, and learning about their work that led up to the bomb.

After serving a mission Spanish speaking in New Jersey during COVID, I became interested in Hispanic immigrant health. For my Honors thesis, I am researching the linguistic and cultural barriers to HPV vaccination for Hispanic Immigrants. We have found that having a lower language barrier and using home remedies increases vaccine negativity, while trusting one’s folk medicine practitioner more than a medical doctor decreases negativity. Our next step is to turn our findings into interventional videos, hopefully to help increase the HPV vaccination rate among the Spanish-speaking population in the US.

My Honors thesis has helped me gain experience in leading a research team, developing study design and surveys, data analysis, and publication. As I would like to research and be in academia for my career, this project is helping me develop the skills and knowledge to be a better researcher and epidemiologist.

Benjamin Quist
Majors: English & Psychology
I am so grateful I was introduced to the Honors Program at the beginning of my time at BYU. The interdisciplinary classes, combining the arts and sciences, opened my mind to new possibilities that I had never before considered. When I started the Honors Program I was an English major. However, after taking Honors 226 with Dr. Steffen and Dr. Bennion, which mixed my major (English) with psychology, I realized how comfortably the two disciplines fit together. This class was the first steppingstone on my path to pursuing both psychology and English as a double major.

For my Honors thesis, I am exploring the effects of expressed humility on negotiation outcomes. I have a passion for negotiation and peacemaking, originating from my experiences as a missionary in France and Belgium. Because this is a new area of research, I am conducting a qualitative study, talking to professionals who negotiate as part of their career. I am excited to share the results in the coming months!

My future educational goals include pursuing a PhD in organizational behavior (I am currently in the application process) so that I can immerse myself in research regarding negotiation, conflict resolution, ethics, and higher purpose. As I have gone into graduate school interviews, many professors have commented on my research experience and Honors thesis. Without the Honors Program, I would not have had the same opportunities to grow as a scholar and person, and I am grateful that this amazing experience is available to anyone who chooses to embrace it.

Emily Rodriguez
Major: Sociology
The Honors Program has been one of the best decisions I have made as a BYU undergrad. The Honors classes have challenged me and encouraged me to view the world from different perspectives and disciplines. Working on my thesis has been one of these challenging yet eye-opening experiences.

My thesis is an exploration of Border Identity. Over the summer, I went to Nogales, Arizona, a small town on the US-Mexico border, and interviewed and surveyed people on their sense of self and how living on the border influences their identity. Having served my mission in Nogales, Sonora, I grew to love this population, and when the opportunity to conduct a thesis arose, I wanted it to be about something I truly cared about. Although it has been difficult, working on my thesis has been one of the most enriching experiences.

In the future, I hope to continue to conduct research and advocate for marginalized and forgotten groups. I plan to enroll in graduate school and obtain a master’s degree in Public Policy. Following that, my goal is to work with national advocacy groups committed to advocating for underrepresented populations. I am grateful for my time with the Honors Program, and I know that it has helped prepare me to succeed beyond my time at BYU.