Caroline B. Barta teaches writing courses at the University of Texas. She is a PhD student in English Literature. She researches information literacy in seventeenth century instructional and informational texts to uncover obstacles for minority, immigrant, and underserved communities today. While studying for her Masters (2015) she taught writing at Boston College, where the first iterations of this class triumphantly debuted. Perhaps, however, its real genesis stretches back to her twenty-first birthday, when her parents gave her an iPhone (3G!). She immediately saw its flexible text-creation as part one in her plans for (peaceful) world domination. You’ll be the judge as to her current progress. When not reading or writing with a cup of coffee in hand, she can often be found looking for adventures, rambling, or piffling. App most used on her iPhone: Spotify (sorry, TSwift!). carolinebarta@utexas.edu
Leslie Abdelgani is a third year student at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Communication Science and Disorders, Speech Language Pathology major. She hopes to graduate in May 2018, and further her education by attending Graduate school at UT. She is from a suburb just outside Houston, TX called Pasadena. Leslie has never been tech savvy in her life and she thought finally buying her own iPhone after her high school graduation, she would magically be able to be up to date with the rest of the world. However, she still struggled to work the simple gadget. On her free time, Leslie enjoys playing volleyball, sight-seeing, and taking photographs with her Polaroid Land camera. You can usually find her on her Instagram, liking the photos of strangers on her Discover feed. leslie197675@utexas.edu
Emily Allen graduated from Seven Lakes High School in Katy, TX in 2014 and is now a Junior Biology Pre-Pharmacy major at the University of Texas. She is currently stressed because she is applying to pharmacy schools with the hope of starting on her path to becoming a Pharmacist next fall. When she is not applying to professional schools, Emily likes to read and dance. After two years on campus, Emily has become a proud member of the Longhorn Pre-Pharmacy Association, president of an organization known as Operation Smile, and a Chemistry Peer Learning Assistant. With all of these things going on in her life–who knows when she will find time to sleep! The most used app on her phone is Snapchat. eallen011@comcast.net
Folawiyo Babalola is a senior Neuroscience major passionate about learning more about how our mind works and what makes humans different from any other species. I love cooking all types of food and have made it my goal before I graduate to be the best cook in my family, which is hard because everyone in my family is an amazing cook. I hope to attend medical school once I graduate. I want to become a physician because I want to improve the patient-physician relationship. I want to be a physician that puts my patients first and does everything inside and outside the hospital in order to improve their quality of life.
Bill Dang is a senior at The University of Texas at Austin. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science and Arts in Biology with a Business Foundations Certificate. His goals are to attend medical school and become a surgeon. Bill is the current President of Delta Epsilon Mu – Sigma Chapter at UT. He enjoys reading, weightlifting and going outdoors in his free time. Outside of school, Bill reads about entrepreneurship. He hopes to one day start his own business. Bill’s first iPhone was a 3GS that he bought almost 6 years ago. He has owned iPhones ever since and couldn’t be happier. bd3471@gmail.com
Kourtney M. Brown is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a communication sciences and disorders major with her focus in Speech and Language Pathology. She is from San Angelo, Texas and moved to Austin at the age of 18. She hopes to work in a children’s hospital or at an elementary school helping young kids with speech impediments. In her past time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and traveling. She has two older sisters, Karlee and Kayla, who she spends a lot of her time with. Her favorite app to use is Snapchat because she can keep up with distant friends and relatives. kourtneybrown1219@utexas.edu.
Sofia Carballar is from the small border town of Brownsville, Texas. She is a Junior at the University of Texas at Austin currently studying Supply Chain Management in the McCombs School of Business. She sincerely hopes to make it to graduation without looking like she served two terms as President of the United States. She is an avid Harry Potter fan, is still keeping up with the never-ending Grey’s Anatomy (mainly because she’s just gotten used to it), and loves discovering Austin’s cool hang out spots. Sofia strongly believes that the most beautiful addiction in the world is coffee. When she’s not busy studying in PCL she is a foodie, traveler, photographer and a nap-time enthusiast. Her most used app is Instagram (@sofiacarballar). sofiacarballar123@gmail.com
Kevin Cortinas is a third year Economics major at The University of Texas at Austin. Although an Econ major, he is also interested in Advertising and is considering minoring in it. He is from San Antonio, Texas and enjoys traveling; he hopes to move to California after he graduates. Kevin also enjoys running, going to concerts, and playing basketball and soccer. The apps most used on his iPhone are: Instagram, Apple Music, and Twitter. cortinas.kevin@gmail.com
Walker Coffman is a senior at the University of Texas in Austin. Initially starting out as an Econ major he quickly changed majors a few times before finally finding the major that was a perfect fit for him as an advertising major at the Moody School of Communication. Raised in Dallas and the son of two former Longhorns, I spent a lot of weekends driving up to Austin to watch the Longhorns football program. Some hobbies of mine are hiking, playing video games with friends, and watching older movies from the 80’s & 90’s. This past summer I had the opportunity to intern at an advertising firm as a graphic designer. The apps that I use the most are: Spotify, Groupie, narwhal (for reddit). walkercoffman@gmail.com.
Ashlee Ferguson is a senior studying Corporate Communication at the University of Texas. She is also pursuing the Business Foundation Certificate through the McCombs School of Business. Ashlee grew up in Dallas, TX and enjoys coffee, adventures, Netflix, and all forms of exercise except running. She plans to stay in Austin after graduation and will likely be working in the Marketing & Events industry, as she loved working for SXSW last semester…though it was the death of her social life. A large part of Ashlee’s life is being a volunteer Young Life leader at private schools in Southwest Austin, so you can find her hanging out with middle school girls on any given day of the week. The most used apps on her iPhone are Spotify and Instagram (even though she might only post six times a year…). ashlee.ferguson@utexas.edu
D’Onta Foreman is a football player here at the University of Texas. My position is Running back. I have a identical twin brother. I am 20 years old and this is my 3rd year here at the University of Texas. D33.foreman@yahoo.com.
Rachel Greenspan is a current sophomore at UT. She is from Long Island, New York and never would have expected to end up in Texas. She never knew where she wanted to go to college but really fell in love with UT and the city of Austin when she first visited. She is a Corporate Communication major and minoring in Business. In her free time she likes to take part in Habitat for Humanity and is a part of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. She always enjoyed playing sports in high school so she enjoys playing on the sorority’s intramural basketball team. She loves to exercise and hang with friends in her free time, and is a huge foodie. The apps she uses most are: Spotify, Favor, and Snapchat. rlgreenspan@utexas.edu
Breckyn Tanner Hager
(born November 22,1996): Raised in Austin.
Hobbies: UT football, making movies, playing video games, and socializing.
Interests: Traveling, Life, Space, Production, and God.
breckynhager@utexas.edu
Ryan Hoffman studies sport management at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a third-year student from Colleyville, Texas, found halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth. While studying sport management, Ryan is also earning his Business Foundations Certificate from the McCombs School of Business. He works as a flag football referee for UT Intramural sports, as well as a coach for several different local youth sports including soccer and football. When not studying or working, Ryan can be found vibing to great music, working out, exploring the beautiful trails and parks of Austin, watching sports on TV (Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks fan for life), or just chilling with his friends. Apps most used on his phone: Spotify or Snapchat. rahoffman96@gmail.com.
Allison Hopkins is currently a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin. She is from Dallas, Texas and is majoring in Public Relations and plans to attend law school after she graduates. She also rides horses competitively; in 2015 she and her teammates earned the Bronze Medal at the North American Junior Young Rider Championships. That same year, she and her horse placed overall 5th in the nation at the Festival of Champions. This season she won gold at the 2016 National Seat Medal Finals. She has a Samsung phone, which is ironic considering this is a class about the iPhone, but she is very familiar with the iPhone and is looking forward to leaning how it has shaped how we communicate in society today. allison.hopkins.15@gmail.com.
Sean Huang
– From Euless, TX (in between Dallas and Fort Worth, if you didn’t know!)
– Sophomore Biology Major, Pre-Pharmacy
– I’m hoping to join more organizations such as Alpha Epsilon Delta (Pre-Health) and the Filipino Student Association
– I know I’m a bit behind (and majorly stressing about it), but I plan on getting my Pharmacy Technician certificate and eventually applying for Pharmacy School
– I enjoy being digitally artsy, cooking, making other people happy, posting funny content on Twitter and Snapchat, and getting into my feelings while listening to my spotify playlists!
– Fun fact: a picture of me nearly naked on a bike in the bathtub went viral in 2014 in a social media event called the “Selfie Olympics” (if you google “Selfie Olympics,” I’m the first image search result)
– Most used apps: Twitter and Snapchat. seanhuang@utexas.edu
Isaac Kim is extremely excited to take Rhetoric of the iPhone. Currently I am a third year student at the University of Texas at Austin studying Corporate Comm. I have moved around a lot while growing up. I was born in Seoul, South Korea and lived there for about seven years and then my parents decided to move to the UK, where I lived for about four and a half years. After living in the UK, we finally moved to the United States. Growing up in so many different places definitely molded me into an outgoing extrovert, who wants to experience the most throughout life. I chose the University of Texas at Austin because I love Texas and the tradition that comes with it such as tailgates, football, barbecue, etc. Although I lived in many different paces, I definitely categorize Texas as one of the top three places that I have lived in. My family lives in Dallas, Texas currently and it’s always a great experience when they come down to visit since Austin is such a fun place to be at. I love Austin’s nature scene as well as the live scene at night. Overall, I am so glad that I came to UT Austin. From this class, I hope to learn more about my phone and really see how our phones are affecting this society. isaackim1995@utexas.edu.
William Mao graduated from Plano Senior High School in 2015, and is currently a sophomore Economics major in the College of Liberal Arts. He is very interested in business and technology, but he also enjoys athletics, reading, and psychology as well. He is both the Vice President of Service and social media chair for Gamma Beta Fraternity, one of the Asian-interest fraternities on campus. The apps most used on his phone are Snapchat, Groupme, Music, and Gmail. william3889@gmail.com
Connor Masich is a third-year advertising major from Houston, Texas. He is originally from Southern California, so naturally he likes being at the beach, surfing, and photography. He is currently working under the shoe and apparel company Vans, doing social media marketing. He hopes to eventually end up back in California after school, and wants to pursue marketing in the future. cmasich@hotmail.com.
Chris Nelson is a junior student athlete at The University of Texas at Austin. He is majoring in Youth and Community Studies. He is from a small town called Dundee, FL.
His goals are to end up coaching and owning his own business to help out the youth.
He enjoys playing football and having fun with his teammates.
Paria Sheshpari studies Government at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a third year student from Santa Monica, CA (a beach town in Los Angeles County). While studying Government at the University of Texas, Paria is also earning a Business Foundations Certificate from the McCombs School of Business. She is a member of a professional business fraternity on campus, Phi Chi Theta, where she partakes in Professional, Social, and Communal activities. When not studying, Paria is always finding new music, looking for adventures, surfing, or eating (being a total carb enthusiast). Apps most used on her iPhone: Tidal, Apple Music, and Spotify (muuuuuusic is her language). pariasheshpari@gmail.com
Sakeenah Tyebbhoy is an Education major at the University of Texas in Austin. She plans to graduate in December 2016 with a concentration in early childhood studies, so that she may continue to build her army of little minions. To what end, is still to be decided (someone mentioned (peaceful) world domination?). She is very much looking forward to her winter wedding in Surat, India, after which she will be permanently residing in the city of Kolkata. She hopes to resume her work there as a passionate educator at a local primary school. In her spare time, Sakeenah enjoys spending time with her family and friends, listening to Hindi music, seeking out Austin’s hidden gems, traveling to places with huge mountains, and horse-back riding. App most used on her iPhone: WhatsApp. Email: keen2152@gmail.com
Varden Vu has been attending the University of Texas at Austin for three years and going for a fourth year. By procrastinating on figuring out what Varden wanted to do in life, he spent the summer of 2016 lazing around and taking up construction contracts on the weekends. Blessed with phenomenal luck, Varden ended up with the opportunity to take over his aunt’s chiropractic office. Finally with a destination in life, Varden can focus on his studies and apply for professional schools. Other than stressing and dodging responsibilities, Varden enjoys boxing and he’s planning on becoming a professional boxer in the near future. If Varden still has enough luck left, he will make enough money as a boxer to retire early and travel the world. The most used app on his iPhone is Snapchat and Spotify. vardenvu@gmail.com