Shaped by Global Experience

April 2026

Born in Hawaii, Raven Skousen grew up the third of four children in a family shaped by service. His father’s career in the US Air Force meant frequent moves and constant exposure to new places. “Growing up overseas, I was surrounded by very different cultures, religions, and beliefs,” Skousen says. Those early experiences helped form his sense of purpose and curiosity about the world.

Skousen attended the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, just after finishing high school. He was financially independent and determined to make a career for himself in military service.

When Plans Shift, Purpose Remains

After two years at West Point, he felt impressed to pause his training and use his savings to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He resigned from his appointment to serve a proselyting mission in San Diego, California. When medical issues forced an early return, Skousen reapplied to West Point. Although he was accepted again, he discovered he was no longer medically qualified to return.

Once again, Skousen adapted. He shifted plans and served as a service missionary in Spanish Fork, Utah, living with his aunt and uncle during a time of uncertainty. “My aunt and uncle are amazing and helped me through a really difficult time,” Skousen says. “I saw the hand of God in my life in connecting me with them.”

Skousen worked in several service assignments, including construction projects on BYU campus. He continued construction work after his mission, logging 80 hours or more each week between his two jobs to maintain financial independence. Overworked and stretched thin, but still determined, Skousen enrolled in independent study courses and then once again became a full-time student, now at BYU.

The Gift of Time and Focus

He learned shortly after his acceptance to BYU that he had been awarded a Signature Scholarship from the C. Scott & Dorothy E. Watkins Charitable Foundation, covering full tuition for the academic year. The impact was immediate.

“You only have 24 hours in a day,” he says. “Receiving this scholarship allows me the time to balance my responsibilities in a healthy way. I still work, but I can work part-time and focus my efforts on school. All that is possible because of this scholarship.”

Now a junior at BYU, Skousen is studying history with potential double minors in Arabic and business. His academic curiosity reflects his global upbringing and desire to better understand humanity. He has presented research at the BYU Asian Studies Student Symposium and at Weber State University through the Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference.

Encouraged by his mentor, Professor Paul E. Kerry, Skousen applied for and was accepted to an immersive study-abroad experience at the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, England. There, he will study alongside peers from around the world in a program that blends academic inquiry with interfaith dialogue. “I’m really hoping that this will help me decide if academia is the path for me or not,” he says. “Right now, I feel that it is. I think there’s more I need to learn to understand how the world works.”

Carrying the Torch Forward

Skousen recently met the donors whose generosity made his education possible at a scholarship luncheon. “It was awesome to see all the students and donors there—to realize how interconnected we are and how this institution is a generational pursuit,” he says. “That, to me, is very inspiring.”

Because of donors who believe in education and opportunity, Skousen is pursuing knowledge to use in service of others. “The greatest strides in human achievement come through collective effort,” he says. “Scholarships like this allow students to take that torch and carry it further.”