Student Spotlight

Ava Pfeil, a construction management student, is in her third year at BYU. However, it’s only her first year in the program. Before she switched to the College of Engineering, Ava was an accounting major. After two years in the program, she decided that she didn’t enjoy accounting enough to do it for the rest of her life. After looking at other majors, she narrowed her options down to business or construction management. Ava shadowed her father who is a construction manager for a week during the summer and decided that it was what she wanted to do. And after a single semester in the program, she has no regrets. “I love having something physical to show for all your hard work.”

Being actively involved in her major has become an important part of Ava’s experience in the College of Engineering. “When I was in the accounting program, I would show up to all these activities and after two years I still felt like I didn’t know anyone and that there weren’t any opportunities. Now I show up to engineering activities and everything is different.” Ava has found fellowship and many more opportunities in the College of Engineering than she expected and, consequently, her best advice to new students is to show up and get involved early in your major.

Currently, Ava is actively involved in three clubs: Mixed Use competition team, Solar Decathlon, and Timber-Strong team. When she joined these clubs, she was still in her first semester in the program and compared to the other students in these teams, she had very little knowledge to contribute. However, Ava’s teammates were understanding and instead of seeing her as a burden, they reached out and helped her grow. “Being on these teams has helped me realize how kind, understanding, and welcoming everyone in this program is. They’re also so willing to teach me things that I don’t know and I really love that.” Through her experiences in the club, she feels like she’s learned a lot and has gained a lot of experience.

Despite her busy schedule and obligations, Ava makes time to sit down and do one of her favorite things which is read. One of her more frequented spots is BYU’s duck pond where she likes to set up a hammock or a blanket and read. She highly recommends The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah to anyone who is willing to pick it up.

One thing that makes her unique is her love of traveling and living in other countries alone. As a teenager, she asked her parents if she could travel to South Korea alone if she saved up the money for the trip and they agreed. So, at the age of fifteen, she flew to South Korea and lived there for six weeks before returning home. “I feel like it made me way more independent and taught me a lot.” Whether she’s traveling with others or alone, her agenda is the same: experience what it would be like to live there. When she travels alone, she likes to spend around six weeks in that country. During that time, she learns as much as she can about the culture, sees as many sites as possible, and sample the many foods that the country has to offer. So far, she has traveled to South Korea, Australia, Greece, and London. Her next big travel plan is to teach English in a foreign country.

For Ava, it’s easy to talk to those around her and make friends, but she’s aware that it’s not the same for everyone else. Some advice she would give to all the students in the College of Engineering on how to make sure that the everyone feels welcomed and included is to get out of your comfort zone. Whether you’re new to the major or not, whether you have lots of friends in your class or just a few, if you get out of your comfort zone and just talk to everyone around you, you could make even more friends and possibly make a big difference in the life of another student.

We’re grateful to have Ava as part of our student body and look forward to the amazing things she’ll accomplish in the next few years.