After changing her major and facing a cancer diagnosis in her family, this BYU graduate discovered how intertwined our physical, emotional, and social lives are and how to show up for others.
When Cameron Miner, a graduate in family studies from St. George, Utah, first came to Brigham Young University, she thought her path was set. A pre-nursing student with plans to work in healthcare, she imagined a future grounded in medicine. But after entering the program, something felt off.
“I quickly realized it wasn’t for me,” she says. “I still wanted to help people… but I wanted to have more of an emotional connection with people.”
After re-evaluating her goals, she transferred into the family studies program to focus on the psychological and social aspects of human relationships. The new major allowed her to engage with people on a deeper level, fulfilling the "connection" she felt was missing from her previous studies. She credits a spiritual prompting for helping her make the final decision to switch.
“I really just kind of felt like I was guided by the Lord,” Miner says. “He kind of pushed me this way.”
During her time at BYU, Miner balanced a full academic load, research positions, internships, and service opportunities. At the same time, she was navigating one of the most difficult experiences of her life: supporting her husband through a recurrence of mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a cancer affecting the salivary gland. His diagnosis came early in 2025, just as Miner was transitioning into her new major, and the months that followed were filled with surgeries, radiation treatments, and uncertainty.
“There were a lot of tears, a lot of really hard nights and days,” she says.
Despite the weight of caregiving and academic demands, Miner remained deeply committed to both her education and her relationships. Radiation treatments left her husband exhausted, and as a result, daily routines changed to accommodate his needs. She credits much of her strength to the support system around her — friends, ward members, and mentors eased the strain of day-to-day responsibilities.
“We had friends that would just text us every week like, ‘Hey, how are you doing? What can I bring you?’” she says. “It’s small but it means so much.”
During her time at BYU, Miner volunteered at the Utah State Hospital, interned at the Foundation for Family Life and worked with couples through a sexual mindfulness course. Her personal experiences influenced how Miner approached her work. Across those settings, she saw how communication and trust shape the way people navigate difficult situations.
“I think communication is everything,” she says. “If the communication isn’t there, then the ability to get through really difficult things is going to be so much more difficult.”
That belief was cemented as Miner moved between her two internships which were in vastly different clinical worlds. From helping families navigate the road to recovery at the Foundation for Family Life to sitting with patients facing severe mental health crises at the Utah State Hospital, Miner saw people at their most vulnerable.
“Just to see them grow… you feel this power and this love for them,” Miner says of the clients she worked with. “It’s amazing to see them change their lives.”
Miner also worked as a student assistant for a global study abroad program. Through these roles, she engaged closely with individuals and couples navigating complex personal challenges, both in and outside of clinical settings. These experiences gave her a front-row seat to how deeply personal circumstances shape emotional well-being and relationships. Over time, she began to see a clear pattern: a person’s physical, emotional, and social lives aren't separate, but deeply dependent on one another.
“There’s so much intertwining of our physical health and our emotional health and our relational health,” she says.
Faith became the primary counterweight to the stress of Miner’s major life transitions. When faced with crossroads that didn't have a clear right answer, Miner learned to trust in something greater than herself, which allowed her to move forward without the paralysis of second-guessing.
“You just have to have faith that the Lord’s will will be done,” she says.
Miner plans to continue that work in BYU’s Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program. She is particularly interested in areas like healthy sexuality and medical family therapy, where she can work directly with individuals and couples facing complex challenges.
For Miner, the true value of her degree isn't just in the subject matter, but in the person she became while earning it.
“College is so much more than classes,” she says. “It’s been really eye-opening and full of opportunities that have allowed me to grow as a person.”
That growth is now realized in the way she shows up for others; having relied on a support system during her own difficult chapters, she makes a point to be that steady presence for her peers. She leaves the program with a clear hierarchy of values.
“Have faith and make time for your most important relationships,” she says.