As a freshman, BYU Public Relations student Alyssa Minor did not know that she would write a detailed research paper on child abuse in Ghana's orphanages. But in the Ballard Center Do Good. Better. class, Minor discovered the problem and chose to investigate. The more she learned about the problem, the more Minor wanted to talk to the people affected herself. So the following Summer, she put away her reports and memos about Ghana's orphanages and boarded a plane to the country.
Minor is a prime example of what it means to "love the problem"—a core principle taught by the Ballard Center. Too often, well-meaning people focus first on solutions before understanding the full complexity of an issue. Minor's journey and published Ballard Brief show the power that loving the problem can have on just one person as well as an entire population.