Student Spotlight

Lucky Bahati experienced a unique path to the BYU College of Engineering. He grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before coming to the United States to attend college. Although he received a scholarship from Southern Utah University (SUU), he soon realized that it was not the place for him. As he was applying to other schools, a friend recommended BYU, which Lucky had never considered. His initial reaction when he researched BYU was that he loved the school colors. From the moment he saw BYU’s white and blue, he was sold. He was also amazed by the low cost of tuition. Lucky says, “You know the saying, ‘You get what you pay for?’ Well, BYU is the exception to this rule.”

After arriving at BYU, Lucky declared his major as Mathematics, but once again realized that he might want to pursue a different path. A friend recommended that he look for a major with more diverse career opportunities. Heeding this suggestion, Lucky decided to sign up for civil engineering and thoroughly enjoyed the intro seminar. Despite changing his major, Lucky still has a love for math and is pursuing a mathematics minor. Ever since he changed his major, Lucky has been extremely involved in the department of civil engineering. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ACE) and the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (in his words, “A fancy way of saying, ‘We love trains’”). Lucky says that his favorite class that he’s taken so far has been Fluid Flow Theory. Although he found this class extremely challenging, he persevered and ended up loving it, even becoming a TA for the class so that he could help students who struggled like he did. Lucky is also a research assistant in the Hydro Informatics Lab with Professors Norm Jones and Gus Williams.

In addition to his involvement with the College of Engineering, Lucky is also involved in many BYU clubs, including the Black Student Union (BSU), the African Cultures and Languages Association, and the Interfaith Club. Lucky served on an interfaith council to encourage others to join whatever group interests them, even if they don’t feel represented there. Although Lucky is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he loves to read and understand religious theology and feels that most of us share fundamental truths, no matter our religion. Lucky emphasizes the idea that despite our differences, we are all working towards the same goals and need to support each other. He says, “When you’re taking a math class, it doesn’t matter if you are LDS or non-LDS; if you don’t understand the first derivative, you’re getting a zero.” This shows the importance of helping one another toward academic success, regardless of religious background.

Lucky is a huge advocate for belonging within the College of Engineering and BYU as a whole. He feels that BYU is quite culturally and religiously homogenous, so students can either adapt to the environment or quit altogether. Thankfully, Lucky chooses to adapt and tries every day to smile and make BYU a better place. “I think the most dangerous thing we can have as a university is to have a bunch of people filled with information about math or what have you, but they fail to understand the realities of the world at large,” he says. Lucky believes that one way to resolve this issue is to talk with other people and get involved. He encourages others to share their opinions even if they differ from the majority opinion, because the more you understand others, the more you see that they are striving for the same things you are. Lucky’s last words of advice to his peers are: “Engage, engage, engage.” He affirms that we can change BYU for the better by engaging with the university community and always saying hi to people.