University of Utah · Fall 2026

Leyton Roberts

Building through experience, connection, and story.

Admitted University of Utah Business Student | Fall 2026
Entrepreneurship · International Business · Content & Storytelling

Austria, during a long hike with a new friend from Germany. The gap year gave me space to step back, meet people from different cultures, and think clearly about what I want next.

“He’s not chasing validation. He’s working toward alignment.”
Hernst Bellevue — Grammy-nominated producer, creative director, and coach

Academic baseline

4.0 freshman and sophomore years while taking the most challenging course load available.

Two-sport leadership

Year-round baseball catcher and Nordic skier — chosen to captain both teams.

Global perspective

Spanish immersion background, Norwegian folk school, and travel through 11 countries.

Builder & storyteller

Built the Nordic team media account that led to a MountainFlow Eco Wax sponsorship.

The through line

The shape of the story.

Before junior year, I was a 4.0 student taking the hardest course load available while training year-round as a baseball catcher and Nordic skier.

I liked doing hard things, especially as part of a team. Catching, long training days, cold mornings, doubleheaders, and the repetition of getting better all made more sense when the team was strong.

I was chosen to captain both programs because of how I showed up: consistent, inclusive, competitive, and committed to making the team better.

Junior year brought a documented health disruption that affected my transcript, but not my underlying ability. I stepped away to do deeper work on myself.

Norway gave me space to recalibrate. A year at a folk school, travel through 11 countries, and friendships across cultures helped me see more clearly what I want next.

I want to study business in a place built around action, entrepreneurship, international perspective, and teams. That is why Eccles, Lassonde, and Utah feel like the right next step.

Academic context

The baseline, on the record.

Two independent letters establish the academic baseline before junior year and the readiness after.

“He ended his freshman year with a 4.0 GPA… He ended his sophomore year with a 4.0 GPA.”
Jennifer Jango-Cohen — North Tahoe High School Counselor

“His cognitive ability remained intact.”
Dr. Jocelyn Kreiss — Board-Certified Psychiatrist

On leadership

Leadership without ego.

Four-year varsity baseball catcher; team captain. — Catcher was where I learned leadership. Not speeches. Decisions, trust, toughness, and making everyone around me better.

Catching taught me how to lead without making it about myself.

I had to read the field, manage pressure, take care of pitchers, and keep the team steady. I also knew what bad leadership felt like. As a younger player, I saw older players lead through humiliation. When I became a captain, I wanted teammates to feel included, respected, and willing to work hard because they wanted to be there.

“His toughness, humility, and positive attitude made him a respected leader among his peers.”
Martin Legarza — Head Baseball Coach

Nordic & content

Doing hard things with people.

Nordic skiing taught me to enjoy hard work in a different way than baseball did. Cold mornings, long training days, and the repetition of getting better were easier when the team felt connected.

Mid-race on skate skis, North Tahoe. — I trained year-round between baseball and Nordic. The hard parts were easier when the team was having fun and everyone felt like they belonged.

That became the leadership standard I cared about most: skill mattered, effort mattered, but people also had to feel like they belonged.

I helped build the Nordic team Instagram because we wanted the sport to look as fun as it felt to us. When MountainFlow Eco Wax reached out to sponsor the team, I saw how authentic content could change perception and create opportunity.

The Instagram page for North Tahoe Nordic showing the MountainFlow Eco Wax sponsorship. — We wanted Nordic skiing to look as fun as it felt to us. When MountainFlow Eco Wax reached out to sponsor the team, I saw how authentic content could change perception.

The deeper work

The deeper work.

Junior year, life got bumpy. I was still trying to carry the same academic, athletic, and leadership load, but I needed to step away and do deeper work on myself.

Sahar Khazani, who worked with me through that period, wrote that my GPA did not capture my intelligence, resilience, or potential. She described the growth since then as active, intentional, and rooted in self-awareness, coping skills, and a more stable foundation.

“Leyton has taken an active role in his own development.”
Sahar Khazani

What I want to build

A marketing company that teaches as much as it produces.

I am interested in building a marketing company that helps businesses produce and manage authentic content.

But I do not want to only make content for them. I want to help them understand how to do it themselves: how to recognize what is real, what is useful, and what people actually connect with.

The fly-copter business taught me that small ideas can become real if you act on them. The Nordic account taught me that story changes perception. Norway helped me understand that connection is the part I care about most.

That is the thread I want to keep building at Utah.

Backflip on skis, Switzerland, this past winter. — The camera came naturally because I was already inside the experience.

Trysil, Norway. Behind the camera while the crew sent the big kickers, in an Originals Studio hoody.

A short reel I made for this application — optional

The goal is not just to make content for businesses. It is to help them tell their own story better.

Why Utah

Why Utah.

Eccles

A serious business foundation inside a university with real scale and reach.

Lassonde

The entrepreneurial environment I keep coming back to: small teams, real projects, and people building by doing.

Global business

A way to keep building on Spanish immersion, Norway, and a year of learning across cultures.

The mountains

Not the whole reason, but part of the fit. I grew up in Tahoe, and I know I do well where work and the outdoors sit close together.

I am already admitted to the University of Utah business school for Fall 2026.

Utah stands out because the pieces fit together: Eccles for business, Lassonde for entrepreneurship, global programs for international perspective, and a mountain culture that feels familiar without being the same as home.

I moved my orientation from July 16 to June 3 so I could register earlier and engage seriously from the start. Lassonde was also one of my housing selections.

I have strong options in California, where the financial path is simpler. I want Utah to work. The question now is whether first-year support can close enough of the gap to make the decision possible.

$73,132 Estimated first-year cost of attendance.

$10,500 Total aid currently awarded — work-study and federal loans, not grants.

The funding review

The funding review.

I am not asking Utah to overlook the transcript. I am asking for the full context to be considered.

The packet documents the academic baseline, the health disruption, the recovery, and the readiness.

The current gap is real. I am admitted to the business school, actively moving toward Utah, and trying to make a serious decision before orientation and registration. I am asking whether there are merit, program, housing, role-based, or other first-year funding pathways that could make attending Utah financially viable.

Read the Funding Review Packet →

Includes transcript, financial aid award letter, psychiatrist letter, counselor letter, treatment / mentor letters, and baseball coach letter.