On Thursday, January 17th, 2019, Crystal Young-Otterstrom spoke to student on the value of humanities and arts within the political sphere. Crystal has been involved in politics for 15+ years and has kept her career service oriented. She is one of the three co-chairs of Latter-Day Saint Democrats of America and recently was the treasurer of the Utah Democratic Party. She is also Executive Director of Utah Cultural Alliance and heavily involved in Utah’s cultural sector.
Crystal Young-Otterstrom started her lecture by sharing, “Everything I know about politics I learned from the Art of Humanities.” Crystal considers herself a lobbyist for culture. She taught that creativity is the most valued trait to employers and that this trait can be learned best through the arts. She encouraged students to take classes that can help them develop these skills. She taught that like theater, politics is a performance of selling oneself and learning how to communicate in a compelling way. The theater and performance classes that Crystal took in college helped her to feel confident when public speaking. She learned how to be concise and compelling. Crystal also explained how the arts embraces uniqueness. As she explained this principle, she encouraged students to embrace their own uniqueness. Teaching that embracing one’s uniqueness will give more to their future. As Crystal would say, “You be you! You do you!”
Crystal also inspired students by teaching them her motto in life— “What you can dream, you can do.” She taught that one’s desires can become a reality when they bring together faith and action. Encouraging students to always keep trying, she also reminded student, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). She explained, “Don’t be discouraged if you feel you don’t have time to do it all now. Your time might come in the future.”
Thank you, Crystal, for your enthusiastic remarks!