Meet Pat

“That’s what trials do, I guess. They either build you up or break you.” Pat Johnson speaks from experience. She decided a long time ago that, while trials might slow her down, they wouldn’t stop her from earning a bachelor’s degree and building a life she loves. After years of faith and persistence, in 2023 she earned her degree through the Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) program at Brigham Young University (BYU), which allowed her to complete the degree she began in 1989 when she enrolled at BYU straight out of high school.

Pat’s time as a young BYU student was cut short by her constant battles with debilitating migraines and unanswered medical questions. She couldn’t keep up with her courses and had to put her education on pause. A few years later, while pregnant with her first child, Pat experienced a stroke that led to her diagnosis of congenital heart disease. She then spent years enduring multiple open-heart surgeries and medical procedures while she and her husband raised three children and worked to pay their bills.

Pat says they “experienced a lot of sorrow and fear and accepted that a college education was now out of reach for both of us.” Their life didn’t look like the one they had envisioned. But, Pat says, they “moved forward with faith and tried to live the gospel that we know to be true,” and all the while Pat enrolled in community college courses whenever possible.

Pat’s BYU Bachelor of General Studies Experience

Eventually, though Pat had not yet graduated, each of her children chose to attend BYU. In 2018, she transferred her credits back to BYU, intending to earn a BGS degree. But shortly after this transfer, she was forced to postpone her education again as her health concerns intensified. At this point, her husband and youngest daughter could see that she was struggling and bought her a golden retriever, Deeks, hoping to “give mom a purpose.” He helped Pat so much that she wanted to share the love at the children’s hospital in Dallas, with kids who have heart defects like hers. So she began training Deeks as a therapy dog, which as her family had hoped, gave her new purpose and motivation.  

With renewed energy but health challenges still present, Pat enrolled in BYU Independent Study courses to catch up on credits and was eventually accepted into the BGS program. She chose the Psychology emphasis, which she found especially interesting after all she had experienced. Also, during her work with Deeks, she had witnessed the positive effect her therapy dogs have on people’s well-being. She says that her psychology classes helped her “accentuate the impact we can have on other people” and that studying psychology “connected all the dots to give me a bigger picture” of what life is really about.

Her studies helped drive her desire to continue serving others. As she progressed through the BGS program, Pat enrolled in several courses that she would later apply to her work with therapy dogs. Behavioral Neurobiology was one of her favorites, and she found a course called The Restored Gospel and Psychology particularly influential. After the class ended, she wrote to the professor expressing how it had changed her life. "I graduated a year ago,” she says, "and I’m still teary-eyed over that class. It just gave me a whole different view.”  

Pat says the BYU Bachelor of General Studies program was the perfect fit for her goals and dreams. She recalls the importance of the program’s flexibility for her ability to graduate. Initially, she needed a year to complete an Independent Study course. When her health improved, she was able to slowly increase the pace of her schoolwork. Pat says this momentum helped her complete the program by her goal date.  

Pat insists, however, that she could not have reached her goals without support from her family: “Nothing motivates you like your children.” She was on track to graduate in 2024 when she discovered that her daughter, son, and daughter-in-law would all be walking together at BYU graduation in 2023. Inspired by the thought of joining her children, and assisted by the flexibility offered to BGS students, she accelerated her coursework and graduated alongside her children. “I still can’t believe I did it,” she says. “Every day I just got up and went. I went to class after class after class. I just went all day. . . . Being able to graduate and walk with them—I wasn’t going to let that opportunity go.” She says graduation day was “quite possibly one of the best days of my life.” 

Pat remembers that, as a young married couple, she and her husband had “typical goals—get our education, have a family, and live happily ever after.” But, she says, “The Lord took us down a much different path. But He helped us over every obstacle, and I could not be more proud of and grateful for my faith-filled husband; three compassionate, kind, and dedicated children; and my BYU diploma.” 

Pat’s Impact on the Community

After graduation, Pat used the research principles she had learned in the BGS program to research the best methods for training therapy dogs, and she uses her emphasis in Psychology in her volunteer work. Together with her husband, Pat and the therapy dogs visit the DFW airport, hospitals, schools, counseling offices, and more to spread joy, comfort, and healing to members of her community. 

Deeks and Gryffy wear vests that say “pet me,” which Pat says is a welcome message to people who are used to seeing “do not pet” signs on security dogs or other service dogs. When Pat and her husband volunteer at the DFW airport, they are approached by travelers in a wide range of emotional states. “A lot of people cry,” says Pat. “We’ve had so many people cry because they’ve been having such a problem day. They’re traveling from a funeral. They’ve lost their dog. Their travel’s been horrible.” But when they get a chance to pet or hug Deek and Gryffy, “every time, you hear ‘You made our day. You made our day.’ And that’s just so fulfilling.”   

Recently, the couple was able to share Deek and Gryffy with the women’s gymnastics athletes on Team USA. The team was seen on television interacting with the dogs to calm their nerves before competing. Pat has started an Instagram page for her therapy dogs, and they now have over 13.4K followers. You can find Deek and Gryffy on Instagram at @texasgoldenboys.

Final Thoughts

Considering Pat’s academic success, it’s safe to say that she perfectly embodies the BGS motto of “Finish at home what you started at BYU” and BYU’s Aim of Lifelong Learning. There was a time when higher education felt out of reach for Pat. But with the flexible BGS program, her supportive family, and her own grit and determination, she overcame the obstacles in her way and obtained her degree.

All over the country, there are individuals who—like Pat—feel that a college degree is out of reach. If Pat could send them a message, she would share a favorite quote, by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do so has increased.” 

If you resonate with Pat’s story, know that your dreams are not unattainable. In 2023, BYU Continuing Education served over 500 Independent Study students in the Dallas area. As Pat says, “You might feel overwhelmed right now, but why could everyone else do it and not you?”