Humans of USU: Philanthropic sophomore advocates for kids

The Utah Statesman interviewed Joseph Montoya, an undeclared sophomore from Fairfax, Virginia.

Utah Statesman: You went to BYU-Idaho and now Utah State University; why did you make that change?

Joseph Montoya: My brother was going to BYU-Idaho, so I went there while he was finishing up for my first year. Then my family started moving here while I was on my mission, so I decided to come here and check it out for awhile, and then I never wanted to leave.

US: What are your favorite local activities?

JM: I love Logan because there’s so much to do. I like how you can climb, go up the canyon; you can camp. I really like hammock camping. My friends and I will take our hammocks, and we’ll go out for a couple days, and we’ll hike and hammock and take pictures.

US: What are you passionate about?

JM: I’m really passionate about helping out with policy and things like that. I get really involved with what’s called CASA — Court Appointed Special Advocates — for children. I help in the court systems and juvenile court with kids that have, for whatever reason, come into the juvenile court system. There’s tons of kids in Cache Valley that are in the court system, and there’s only a couple of lawyers that are appointed to represent them, so they get CASA to go out and spend time with the kids and then to help the lawyers represent the children. I really like that. There’s a lot of things that I feel like socially in the world and in the United States that we can improve, so that’s something I’m really passionate about. It gets me really fired up.

US: What are your plans for the holiday break?

JM: I’m working a lot, but I’m also going to spend as much time as I can with family and hopefully go skiing at least once. I’m still deciding, but I really want to go to Mexico with Charity Anywhere. They’re a non-profit. I don’t know if they’re based off of Utah State’s campus, but they do a lot of stuff here. I heard about them through some friends, and they’re going down the 27th of December through the third of January, building houses down there, and I really want to go, so I’m hoping that works out.

US: Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

JM: I want to declare a major, decide what I want to do with my life. I want to read 12 books next year. I don’t know. Get married. I’m dating a girl, and we’ve been dating for almost a year now, so we’re going to get married in June, probably.

US: Do you have any mottos that you live by?

JM: I try to say, “Don’t worry. Work hard. Have faith.” Just don’t worry. Work as hard as you can and just trust that things are going to work out. It’s going to be okay.

US: What’s your favorite thing about the holiday season?

JM: I love family. Thanksgiving is actually one of my favorite holidays because some of my favorite things are food and family, and Christmas is too because it’s just about getting together. My family is sometimes a little extravagant with gifts and stuff, but my favorite part is always just being around family.