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B-Y-You Matter to Him | Keith Wilson

4,045 views · Published 26 May 2017 · 27:45 · Indexed 11 October 2026

Channel: BYU Speeches · 2017 · Education

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On a large campus (or in a daunting world), it can be hard to feel like you matter. But God knows you by name, and that knowledge changes everything.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/keith-j-wilson_b-y-matter/

"Six years ago President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a profound conference talk entitled “You Matter to Him.”1 In his talk he explained that God is the Creator of all things and yet is concerned about each one of us individually. Today I would like to build upon President Uchtdorf’s topic and title my remarks “BYU Matters to Him.” However, I would like to redefine the acronym for Brigham Young University as B-Y-You, as in you (y-o-u). Thus the title of my address is “B-Y-You Matter to Him.”

This past semester one of my students submitted the following account. With her permission, I share her tender feelings about when she first arrived at BYU:

Leaving everything you have known for the entirety of your life to attend a university that is 547 miles away is difficult. You can no longer lean on the support of your family and friends; you can no longer enjoy the safety and security of your home; you can no longer simply follow your parents. Your life is in your own hands, and it is terrifying. I distinctly remember the hurricane of emotions I experienced as I bid farewell to my dad as he drove away, leaving me standing outside my dorm with five people I had never met. I had to make my own food, and I felt sorely unprepared. Actually, I felt more than unprepared—I felt absolutely and entirely lost.

My student then went on to describe her feelings that day as those of “ultimate vulnerability.”

As I pondered my student’s feelings of vulnerability and isolation, I felt a personal surge of déjà vu from when I first arrived at BYU some forty-seven years ago. My student’s account stirred within me some tender and painful emotions from decades past. I suspect that many of you here today can also recall the daunting memories of when you first arrived on this campus. As I address you today, perhaps some of you find yourself in the throes of similar feelings of trepidation or of being lost." - Keith Wilson

Keith Wilson was a professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University when this devotional address was given on May 23, 2017.

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