Elder L. Tom Perry, one of the Twelve Apostles for the LDS Church, and Hiu Wai Tsui, a psychology major from Sai Kung, Hong Kong, will be speaking at BYU-Hawaii’s graduation on December 17, 2010. Approximately 235 seniors from as many as 72 nations will be graduating at the commencement exercises that begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Cannon Activities Center.
Elder Perry was called to his current position in the Quorum of the Twelve in 1974. Prior to his full-time church service, he served with the Marines, received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Utah State University, where he went on to do graduate work. During his professional career, he served as vice president and treasurer for several companies.
Hiu Wai Tsui joined the LDS Church at age 19, served a mission in Hong Kong and then came to BYU-Hawaii where she was able to earn her degree in three years. She found out she was selected to speak at graduation after getting an e-mail asking her to meet with Vice President of Academics Max Checketts. Tsui said her first reaction was a loss of appetite and a weekend filled with anxiety thinking she might be in trouble when she went on Monday morning to see Checketts. But when Tsui went to Checketts’s office, she discovered she had been selected to be the speaker for graduation.
“I asked him what he wanted and he just smiled and talked to me and he said, ‘Would you like to speak at graduation?’ said Tsui. “The first answer I gave was no, but then I said I’d do it and try my best.”
By the time she gives her speech at graduation, she will have worked on it for four weeks. To prepare, Tsui said she has been praying a lot, going to the temple, and fasting.
“It’s so interesting how the Lord prepared me to write this speech,” said Tsui. “A few weeks ago I talked to a faculty member in my department and about how people keep moving on in their lives. That faculty member shared with me a talk from President Packer, and after Brother Checketts talked to me, that talk really stood out in my mind. I looked at the talk and found out there is information I can use so I used the idea from the talk and constructed my speech.”
Talking about her upcoming graduation, Tsui said, “I’m excited to be graduating but at the same time I feel sad,” said Tsui. “I’m excited because I’m done. The reason I’m sad is I’ll miss Hawaii. I’ll miss my wonderful college, faculty, and friends. I don’t feel like I learned enough in my area. I find the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know in this world.”
After graduation, Tsui will be returning home for eight months to work before graduate school. She has applied to schools both in Hong Kong and the mainland to study clinical psychology.
Before she leaves, Tsui has left BYU-Hawaii students with one last word of advice. She said, “Be grateful and cherish the opportunities here. I believe that this is truly a special institution. We are blessed with so many great resources. As we learn to express our gratitude, opportunities will come [that will let us] truly learn how to be a leader and to serve not only our fellow men but also people from other areas of the world.”
Also speaking at commencement will be BYU–Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright and Roger G. Christensen, Assistant to the Commissioner of the Church Educational System and Secretary to the Board of Trustees for BYU-Hawaii.
Photo by Meghan Harrison