Built with Granite

BY VIVIANA CHUAH

Jessica Chalk, photographed by Yui Leung.. Graphics by Akira Nagahaama.

Having gone through the process of leaving the Church and then restoring her faith, Jessica Chalk said she realized God is always there, ready to accept his children, but they have to be decide to accept him.

“Just go for it and don’t wait for the right moment to repent.”

When things fell apart and her parents divorced, she became less active, shared Chalk. “I thought everyone was perfect. I could not keep up with that,” she continued.

Chalk said she always knew she wanted to go back to church but kept delaying acting upon it. After talking to a non-member friend and being asked, “What are you waiting for?” It hit her straight in the heart, she said.

Following her reactivation in church, Chalk was called to teach Seminary and served in Thailand, Bangkok and England Manchester missions, she said.

A descendant of both ancestors in England and Thailand, Jessica Chalk, majoring in intercultural peacebuilding and social work, is one of the first students from Scotland who has chosen to get a higher education at BYU–Hawaii.

Chalk said she is the eldest of two siblings and the only convert to the Church in her family. She explained the desire to search for happiness led her to the gospel.

“[Life at the time] was hard. My brother had just been born, and my parents were going through some things. I wanted to be happy. I [tried] to figure out where I could find that, and then I saw people on YouTube. They [looked really] happy, and they were like, ‘This is because we’re members of the LDS Church,’ that caught my attention,” she added.

Chalk said she was baptized on her 16th birthday.

Born and raised in the small town of Aberdeen, a city in North East Scotland, Chalk said, “Usually, when people think of Scotland, they think of Edinburgh or Glasgow because that’s the two big cities. People aren’t familiar with Aberdeen at all.”

The Scottish new source, The Scotsman’s Scottish fact of the week, explains in an online article, “Aberdeen is full of ‘well-known buildings and residential properties [that] were hewn from rock retrieved from large quarries… by the end of the 19th century, it became the granite capital of the world.’” Chalk added, “They named my city the ‘Granite City.’ ... I like to think of it as a gray city because it is mostly cloudy all year long.”

Studying at BYUH was not her first option, said Chalk. She said she was frequently asked why she’s here since the educational system is decent back home in Scotland. During the remaining time on her mission, Chalk said she began her university applications. She said she had always thought of going to BYU –Idaho. However, she said God told her to apply for BYU–Hawaii instead. Chalk said about applying to BYUH, “No, that wasn’t even an option for me. Then I came across a scripture that goes like this: Study it out in your mind, think about it thoughtfully, pray about it and you’ll get your answer. I prayed and felt good about it. I obeyed the prompting I received and started my application soon after that.”

Despite the doubts and challenges she faced during the whole process, she got accepted to start school in the Winter Semester of 2022. “I was comforted by God’s reassurance that He’ll always provide.”

Chalk added coming to this school has changed her perspectives on her career choice and secular knowledge, but also her spiritual growth. “His ways are higher than ours. His persistence led me here and showered me with wonderful experiences.”

Similar to other BYUH students, it has been Chalk’s first time attending a church school, she shared. Chalk explained there are noticeable differences and struggles of fitting in that she had to go through. “It’s hard to be the only Scottish here,” Chalk said. “I didn’t know anybody. People didn’t understand my culture and I had to start from complete scratch.” Having experienced a cultural shift made her realize the loneliness of being a mixed-race child, she shared. “Loneliness doesn’t always have to do with people. I have amazing friends, but I still feel like an outsider sometimes. Anybody can experience that.” She said she thinks she was affected by it so much “because I wasn’t reading my scriptures, prioritizing God in general.” Chalk said the difference was noticeable for her whenever she decided to put God first. “Just looking at the past, when I prioritize God, that’s when my loneliness started to dissipate. Nothing drastic changed. I just felt better,” she said. Additionally, she said she is also a firm believer that being kind is the way to live life.

Taylor Collett, one of the supervisors for the retail department at the Polynesian Cultural Center where Chalk works, said Chalk brought the kind of energy that “spreads to everyone and gets everyone excited about the day.” “I can trust [Jessica] with any job. She’s also one of the sweetest and fun people to be around,” Collett added. Chalk said she is still working at Tutu’s Sweet Shop in the Hukilau Marketplace.

Thavanrat Chongmeesuk, Chalk’s friend, a BYUH student from Thailand majoring in social work, said, “[Chalk] is the kind of friend who puts her heart into understanding you and your situation.” She noted Chalk truly has the gift of healing and uplifting people around her. Veia-Atua Lowry, a sophomore from the Cook Islands studying psychology, said, “I want people on campus to know that Jessica is amazing. She is smart and talented. She loves people around her, and she is just full of light.” Lowry and Chalk have been best friends since Chalk’s first semester in school, she said. “She honestly has helped me to do so much. She’s such a good friend. [Chalk] is the kind of friend who’s more than willing to lend a compassionate ear when you need her,” Lowry shared.

Chalk said prior to coming to BYUH, she knew nothing about British colonization history. It was never taught in her history class, she shared. “If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have known and gone anywhere near intercultural peacebuilding where all of my current knowledge on history is from,” she commented. She initially enrolled in the intercultural peacebuilding introduction class due to having no other alternative, but she said it turned out to be one of her favorite classes so far. As for her future career, Chalk said she feels pretty strongly about restorative justice. She believes change should start with each individual person. She said, “I didn’t understand the extent of it until I came here. I feel like I’m a part of a tiny group of people in my country who know about this history, so if [I don’t start the change], then who will? I want to make a real difference.” •

Castle Street and municipal buildings in Aberdeen, Scotland in the 1800s. Photo from the Library of Congress website.

Graphics by Akira Nagahama.