Every semester a few adventurous young men and women come to Cumorah as volunteer interns. Here they use their God-given gifts and abilities to help bring Cumorah’s mission to life.
Cumorah’s interns have the unique experience to develop their skills and talents in a Christ-centered environment while also creating memories sure to last a lifetime.
Here is the latest edition of interns who felt inspired to come to be a part of campus this Fall Semester.
Kinsley – Emotional Wellness Intern
Kinsley Price is from Meridian, Idaho, and is a passionate student of conflict resolution. She graduated from BYU-Idaho in the spring with a Bachelor’s degree in Marriage and Family Studies. She had heard about Cumorah Academy for the first time from one of her professors; and was immediately intrigued with the opportunity to help young adults through conflict resolution. In her own words,
“With limiting distractions, I think this is the perfect place to be where you can have a lot of self-reflection and opportunities to connect with others.”
It’s also the perfect place for her to have time to self-reflect and prepare for her upcoming mission call to the Florida Tallahassee Mission, to which she will report two weeks after her Cumorah Internship ends.
Mica – English Intern
Mica is from Olympia, Washington, and is passionate about music and teaching English. While continuing her studies in music and TESOL at BYU Idaho, Mica heard about the opportunity to teach English at Cumorah from one of her college professors.
For Mica, deciding to come to Cumorah was not a clear definitive answer from God, but it extended from a feeling that God was giving her the opportunity to trust herself if going was the right decision.
Much like Patrick’s example in following his dream to create Cumorah Academy, Mica felt like she had an internal desire that this was an experience she needed. The confirmation she made the right choice came in an experience she shared about singing, “A Million Dreams,” on campus with one of the students during leadership class.
“She started singing, and I just joined her and we kind of had this special moment where we could connect on something universal – music. In this way, I have enjoyed being able to connect with people in a deeper way because of our unique differences.”
Sarah – English Intern
Passionate about studying languages, Sarah earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics with a TESOL Certification from BYU after graduating in April of this year.
She first learned about Cumorah through some friends at school. After having taught English before at schools in the US, this time she was ready to travel outside her comfort zone through teaching English abroad.
So far, the most inspiring part of being at Cumorah has been the new relationships she’s forming with the students and seeing how committed they are to learning English.
“Their motivation has been inspiring to me because I know a lot of people don’t have the desire to be here in a place like this for 3 months, but these people have dreams and big goals for their lives and that’s been really impactful to me.”
Christopher – Coding Intern
A former student at Cumorah Academy, Christopher looked for an opportunity to give back after he and his wife Rafaela had a life-changing experience here last Fall Semester. From Curitiba, Brazil, Christopher is currently a Software Development major through BYU-Idaho Pathway.
Now together with Rafaela volunteering as an SLI Intern, Christopher is back at the Academy in a sincere, heartfelt giving capacity. He knows the academy opened his heart in so many ways and now he wants to be a part of the experience for the students here on campus.
One of the most important lessons Christopher learned here from the visiting mentors was how to prioritize his family above making more money.
“What really matters is you learn to balance success with your family. Hearing that from very successful people, it was impactful because it made me realize that I’m worried about the wrong thing. I have to focus first on my family and my studies then the other things will come.”
Kailey – Business Intern
From Alberta, Canada, and Studying Business Management at BYU Idaho, Kailey decided to come to Cumorah Academy as she knew she would have the opportunity to serve others in a unique capacity for 3 months. Having served a mission in Chile, she grew by embracing the cultures of those she taught the gospel.
Now driven by her newfound desire to give and impact other people’s lives, Kailey has developed a unique dream and passion for helping kids with autism. She intends to start a nonprofit of her own one day in helping people with autism advance in their lives.
Being on campus this semester has already swelled her heart in many ways she could not have imagined possible. After mentoring some of her students in the business program, Kailey says she has once again felt the light and joy of serving others in the greatest capacity – through being an example of a follower of Jesus Christ. She describes her experience in her own words,
“Getting to know everyone has been awesome, I have never connected with people this fast, and that’s the whole reason why I’m here, I want to help improve their lives, and I want to make my life better because of them.”
Natalia – Photo and Video Intern
Natalia is originally from Columbia but her family now lives in Las Vegas. She first heard about Cumorah Academy at a career fair at BYU Idaho. Natalia is a passionate photographer and she has a dream to one day serve her Latin communities through her own photography business.
“I want the Hispanic community to understand why taking quality photos is important and that there’s a true art to it.”
Through her art, Natalia wants to highlight the culture and diversity of the communities she grew up in and at Cumorah, she’s found relevant experience through working with a diverse community of students.
Aside from connecting with students, She’s enjoyed getting to know the marketing team that works off campus as they help her to take her photography and video skills to the next level to better help boost Cumorah’s brand presence.
Caroline – Sales Intern
With her Bachelor’s Degree in Experience Design and Management, Caroline is excited about her new adventure at Cumorah to help continue the growth and expansion of the sales program.
Caroline first heard about Cumorah Academy after her parents became mentors here for Winter Semester earlier this year. After some encouragement from her parents, Caroline decided to apply to be an intern.
Now as the sales intern on campus, Caroline has learned to go outside her comfort zone through teaching her classes. As she has prepared for this program the past couple months leading up to the internship she’s come better equipped to succeed and help her students take full advantage of this opportunity.
“I’ve loved meeting the people here, learning from them is so beneficial and I feel like I’ve already had my eyes opened a little bit. I just feel like I’m going to love it here and this is something I’ll always look back on.”
Weylin Hollister – Content Creator
That’s me! My name is Weylin and I’m the content creator intern at Cumorah Academy for Fall 2024 Semester. I’m from Los Angeles, California originally, and have lived in multiple states in the US throughout my life.
I am a BYU Idaho graduate with an English degree and a TESOL certificate. I came to Cumorah in Winter 2023 to be the English intern and had a life-changing experience. It is now my professional goal to learn marketing skills so I can land a career where I can use my writing skills to make an income and then start a freelance writing business.
Honestly though, my truest “why” for coming here again is because I know that Cumorah has the power to impact souls through connecting people to friends and mentors from all around the world you would have not otherwise met.
I believe that Cumorah is a living narrative through the heart of each student who attends here. I’ve made it my mission for 3 months to broadcast this story of what is happening here to the world in hopes more young adults will take advantage of this awesome opportunity.
This is the primary reason I came back because I want to be a part of this narrative for 3 more months and have that influence my writing in ways I never thought possible.
Steve Jobs once said he doesn’t look to the future fully knowing every course of action he’s going to take. Instead, most times it’s like a shot in the dark. Step forward, live the experience, and then in the future, you can connect the dots and see what it was all for.
This is that step forward for me, I’m here again and I hope to impact other people’s lives who I know will impact my life in just as many ways I’ll look back on for the rest of my life.
Written by Weylin Hollister
Photos by Natalia Lopez
Supervision by Kamila Uberto Fullmer
To read more about our campus, read our Blog Page.
