University of Utah · Fall 2026
Entrepreneurship · International Business
Experiences · Connecting · 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
4.0 freshman and sophomore years while taking the most challenging course load available.
Year-round baseball catcher and Nordic skier — chosen to captain both teams.
Spanish immersion K–5, Norwegian folk school gap year, and travel through 11 European countries.
Built the Nordic team media account that led to a MountainFlow Eco Wax sponsorship.
The through line
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, things got harder. 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.
Norway gave me space to recalibrate. A year at a folk school, travel across 11 European countries, and friendships from different 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.
The academic context
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
Four years behind the plate 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
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.
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 deeper work
“Leyton has taken an active role in his own development.”
Sahar Khazani
Junior year, things got harder. 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.
What I want to build
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 retail experiment I started at 15 taught me that small ideas can become real if you act on them. The Nordic team 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.
A short reel I made for this application
The goal is not just to make content for businesses. It is to help them tell their own story better.
Why Utah
A serious business foundation inside a university where mountain culture, sport, content, and international brands overlap. That connection fits the kind of business path I want to keep exploring.
The entrepreneurial environment I keep coming back to: small teams, real projects, and people building by doing. I applied to live in Lassonde for that reason.
A way to keep building on Spanish immersion K–5, the Norway gap year, and a year of learning across cultures.
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.
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 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.
Already moving toward Utah
Orientation moved up
From July 16 to June 3 — to register earlier and engage seriously from day one. I also plan to establish Utah residency starting sophomore year, so the out-of-state funding question is a year-one ask.
Applied to live in Lassonde
Selected Lassonde housing so I’d be inside the entrepreneurial environment from the start.
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 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.
I plan to establish Utah residency starting sophomore year, so the out-of-state funding question is a year-one decision.