With graduation approaching, we wanted to take the time to highlight a few of the Kennedy Center’s top students—we interviewed five students to learn more about how their experiences at BYU have shaped them.
Garrett Maxwell, a Middle East Studies/Arabic major, is one of the Kennedy Center’s seven valedictorians of 2024. After graduation, he will continue working at FamilySearch International on the Middle East/North Africa team and hopes to eventually return to academia and relocate to the Gulf.
What drew you to your program?
My missionary experience in the Philippines awakened me to my love of language, and of all the languages in the world to take on afterwards, Arabic seemed most worthy. I was also driven by the desire to read and understand the Qur'an in the original. I greatly enjoyed the program because the faculty are really cream-of-the-crop people whom I admire, fellow students have become lifelong friends, and the program requires an in-country study abroad experience.
Were there any professors that made an impact on you?
All of my professors made an impact on me, from the humble yet vibrant intellect of Dr. Spencer Scoville, the wisdom for travel and life imparted by Dr. Quinn Mecham, the generous disposition of Dr. Josh Gubler, the after-class grammar spelunking sessions with Dr. Jason Andrus, the sagely ecumenicism of Dr. Jim Toronto, the silky smooth Arabic of Ustaaz Fadi, the rough love of Dr. Ahmad Karout, the indefatigable encouragement from Dr. Kirk Belnap, and the continuous philological/philosophical discussions and academic real-talk advice from Dr. Kevin Blankinship. My sincerest gratitude to them all.
Did you participate in any studies abroad?
I participated in an Arabic Intensive study abroad in Morocco—many moments from my time there have risen into the realm of my most potent and cherished memories.
As an individual in the West, and one raised on the Biblical tradition, it was deeply meaningful for me to witness some of the landscapes and agricultural processes that occupied my childhood imagination as provoked by the Bible and its favorite metaphors. But it is not just the metaphors. Morocco isn't the Holy Land itself, but it's closer than I've ever been. The wonder of the Bible for Alfred North Whitehead is that it “excels in its suggestion of infinitude. . . . Possibilities are infinite, and even though we may not apprehend them, those infinite possibilities are actualities.” In the same suggestive way, the rugged land of Morocco points me to the biblical lands, and thus vicariously fires my imagination. This child-like wonder and deep furor in my mind and heart primed my receptivity and sensitivity to transformative experiences while there.
[For example,] while taking a taxi to church one Sunday, and not to mention running a tad late, our driver pulled over the car, put it in park, and ran out the door. At the moment I hadn’t a clue what he was up to, so I was slightly irritated at the further delay this would cause. It turns out he had sprinted off to assist a blind elderly man cross the road. It was touching to witness the Quran and Sunnah being played live on the strings of this man’s heart. Meanwhile I [was] concerned with some artificial time constraint, striving to be on time to a good thing, but watching another striving towards a better thing. It was a reminder to me that human need is usually always in that very moment and ought not be neglected in order to serve a lower demand. Life, as in the Garden of Eden, is hardly ever about choosing between good and evil, but rather about choosing between two competing goods.
To those who are considering the Middle East Studies/Arabic major, what would you say?
If you feel called to this program, follow that intuition. It will take you down all sorts of wild and promising paths if you so allow.