2024 BYU Education Week: My Teaching Story

2024 BYU Education Week: My Teaching Story

2024 BYU Education Week Schedule

I just finished an incredible week teaching four classes at the 2024 BYU Education Week. The overall topic/theme for the four days was “Forming Spiritual Self-Reliance and Lifelong Leadership Skills, from Pre-Mission to Post-Mission and Beyond!” Individual courses included:

• Tuesday—“Preparing to Serve: Becoming Spiritually Self-Reliant”
• Wednesday—“Echoes from the Mission: Learning and Implementing Leadership and Soft Skills”
• Thursday— “Mission Elevated: Applying Ten Straight-Forward Principles of Leadership”
• Friday— “Post-Mission Launching: Counsel for Transitioning from Mission to Home and Beyond”

• 

  Darrel presenting

It all began last year when Joanne and I applied to be “hosting staff” at the 2023 BYU Education Week. We hosted for four days and then attended a variety of courses, which were wonderful and informative.

As I attended these courses, I kept thinking to myself, “I think I can do this.” I talked to Joanne about it, and she said, “I know you can do it.” With Joanne’s support, I knew I had to at least try to become a presenter. I also talked to Trisha, one of our good friends from Lewiston, Idaho, who lives with her family in Washington. She has a son who is nearing the age of going on a mission and wanted additional insight on how to prepare him to go.

The Nelsons (Carol, high school friend), the Hammons,
Trisha (family friend from Lewiston, ID)

I then began thinking about what I might teach. Lots of ideas ran through my head about our missions, particularly serving as mission leaders in the California Riverside Mission and the many incredibly wonderful and spiritual experiences we had. Plus, since arriving home, we have visited with many missionaries about the transition home, including our own. We reminisced about the many firesides we gave both when we served in the Caribbean and to the stakes and wards as mission leaders.

In August 2023, I began fleshing out the outline for four difference courses, completed a 20-minute video of me teaching one of the four courses. At the end of September 2023, I submitted my application, résumé, and a link to my teaching video to the 2024 BYU Education Week Selection Committee. Then, the waiting began!

At the end of January 2024, I received an email invitation to teach at the BYU Education Week program, August 19-23. I was very excited about the invitation and knew I needed to get busy to develop the four courses.

Joanne, Darrel, and Bruce Hayes, a friend from Cheyenne, WY, now in Santaquin, UT.

Over the next several months, I began to develop the outline for the four classes that I ultimately taught during the 2024 BYU Education Week. It took me a bit to create the courses. I made numerous changes to all four courses, making sure that they really were filled with those things the Lord needed me to teach the people who might be attending my classes.

Finally, the time came to teach. Joanne attended with me and was an incredible support and cheerleader throughout the entire process.

Carol Nelson (friend from junior high and high school), Darrel, and Joanne

The four days that I taught were exhilarating, humbling, delightful, a bit stressful, and enlightening. I met lots of wonderful people who thanked me, visited with mothers and fathers about their missionaries, and other mothers who had pre-missionaries and wanted to know what they needed to still do to help their children. 

Participants attending one of the classes

Several pre-missionaries attend the entire series, and several recently returned missionaries attended the last session that was specifically created for them from a white paper I had shared with our own missionaries.

Ximena, hosting staff who is planning on a mission

Overall, the experience was just wonderful! It was an honor and privilege to teach at the 2024 BYU Education Week, and I am already thinking about topics I could teach for the 2025 BYU Education Week. Any insights would be helpful.

Stay tuned.