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Opening Doors: Juliette Ball, BYU’s 2023 Student Employee of the Year

Juliette Ball: logical thinker, perceiver of God through the color green, older sister, precocious child, president of the Life Sciences Student Council, eager planner, enthusiastic beginner of basketball, Relief Society president, editor for the Prelaw Review, microbiology teaching assistant, first-generation college student, BYU student employee of the year. Many titles come to mind when describing Juliette Ball, but the most important one to her is learner.

“Most sticky situations I find myself in are a result of forgetting my call to learn—from my experiences, from God, and from the wonderful people in my life,” she says. “Regardless of any other status I may gain and lose over the course of my life, I hope I always remember to learn.”

Juliette Ball is BYU’s student employee of the year, nominated by her co-workers who all have great respect for her ambition, politeness, and determination to do all she can to make a difference. “I’ve adopted the attitude to keep as many doors open and open as many doors for myself as possible,” Juliette says. “And whatever comes to me, I’ll be grateful for, and I’ll take and do my very best. And that’s all I can do. I just have to let everything else happen and come to me.”

As an office secretary at the Office of the General Counsel—the team of attorneys dedicated To Preserve by the Rule of Law the Mission of BYU—Juliette is always learning. She researches topics for cases varying from copyright issues to sexual misconduct, plots to solve the world’s inflated insulin prices and expose the unethical practices of elder law, ponders upon how the matriarchal structure of elephant herds leads to lower infant mortality rate, and refills staplers. Recently, Juliette worked with an attorney to write and edit court petitions that will allow BYU to grant scholarships to students who were previously denied because of antiquated legal structures. She had to learn about those things, too. “Learning helps me recognize when my problems are the result of living in circumstances I’m not evolved to live in,” she says. “It makes me appreciate the way our lives are set up.” Juliette has worked hard to put herself in the right circumstances to learn and be successful.

Juliette is the first person in her family to go to college. She hardly looks back on where she came from and all she’s accomplished since her 15-year-old self planned out her future with calendars and spreadsheets. “I don’t really let myself feel nostalgic very often,” she says. “I just want to think forward.”

As she prepares to take the LSAT and graduate in microbiology from the College of Life Sciences, there’s a lot she can look back on. Juliette trusts that the right people will open doors for her, and she will keep opening her own doors. “It makes me nervous to know that most of the things I experience are not the result of my work,” she says. “I am here because someone knew me and gave me the opportunity.” Juliette’s grateful for the opportunity to be here. She’s learning to trust in the powers she can’t control and doing her best with the efforts she can. Older sister, daughter, enthusiastic beginner of basketball, student, employee, and now BYU Student Employee of the Year, but most importantly, Juliette Ball is a learner.