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
Lauren Alalay is a Junior Kinesiology: Health Promotions major at the University of Texas at Austin. She is most interested in the reduction of healthcare disparities in the US as well as the promotion of health literacy across all American communities. She is the founder and director of FRESH Ministries, a freshman ministry at the University of Texas that is focused on encountering the Catholic faith in our modern-day communities. She loves a good, spontaneous adventure, especially alongside friends and family, and would love to sit for a chat with you sometime. Some of her most important conversations would not have been made possible if it weren’t for her iPhone, and most especially FaceTime. She believes that with the help of her iPhone, she can save the world. lauren.alalay@utexas.edu
Ali Aston is a third year student at the University of Texas studying Public Relations with a Business Foundations certificate. Ali was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She has an identical twin sister, a younger brother, and younger twin step-siblings. In her free time, she loves traveling, playing tennis, running, soul cycle, cooking and spending time with friends and family. This past fall, she spent the semester studying in Florence, Italy and absolutely loved it. She is hoping to get an internship in New York City this summer in the Public Relations field with a heavy focus on social media marketing. Her favorite app is Instagram. aliaston@utexas.edu
Jack Britton is a Sophomore studying Corporate Communications at the University of Texas. Jack grew up in Houston, TX and has grown up watching Longhorns football his entire life. Jack is an avid sports fan and spends his weeknights and weekends watching the Texans, Rockets, and Astros. In his free time, Jack plays golf and pick-up basketball with his friends. Jack also enjoys watching TV shows and is always looking to find more music on Spotify. The most used apps on his iPhone are: Instagram, Spotify, and Snapchat. Jbbritton625@gmail.com
Johana Campos is a senior from Houston, TX. I am a Human Development and Family Sciences/ Pre-OT major. My goal after graduation is to apply to graduate school and become a pediatric occupational therapist, because of this I am the advertising officer for the Occupational Therapy Society at UT. I enjoy spending time with my family and I have two sisters who I am really close to. I have been dancing and running since I was in high school and it is what I enjoy the most outside of school. jcam14@yahoo.com
Christopher Dinh is a third-year student at the University of Texas at Austin. He is pursuing a degree in public relations while also completing the Business Foundations Program offered by the McCombs School of Business. He was born in San Antonio and lived there shortly before moving to his hometown Pearland, Texas. He is expected to complete his public relations degree and Business Foundations Program requirements by 2018. He is open to completing multiple internships before graduating and is interested in working with non-profit organizations. He was a social media committee member for the Public Relations Student Society of America, social media chair for Omega Phi Gamma, and a member of multiple student organizations, such as the Vietnamese Student Association and Filipino Student Association. Currently, he is seeking internship opportunities with companies whose values similarly align with his. In his free time, he has helped fundraise for Livestrong and has volunteered in his community through Project 2016. Aside from work and academics, some of his interests include scenery, traveling, music festivals, leisure reading, and photography. He believes in having a good work-life balance, where he highly values diligence but also taking time to appreciate life. chris.c.dinh@gmail.com
Jungwoo Ha (you can just call me “Jay” because it is (much) easier to pronounce) is a fourth year student in UT, majoring in Actuarial Science. I was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up there till I was fifteen; I came to U.S by myself when I turned sixteen and attended Pasadena First Baptist Christian Academy in Pasadena Texas. I went back to Korea in 2014 to serve in a South Korean military for two years, and after a discharge, I had an internship experience in global insurance company for six months in Seoul, Korea. I enjoy playing basketball and soccer. The most used app on my iPhone is Spotify. jungwoolha@gmail.com
Zachary Faulise is a third year student at the University of Texas at Austin. He is pursuing a B.A.in Economics and a Masters in the Science of Finance, and plans on graduating in May of 2019.Hailing from Klein, Texas, a suburb in Northwest Houston, Zachary is a football fanatic, self-proclaimed political guru, and avid reader. Considered a family man by those closest to him,Zachary has a little brother, Benjamin, and a little sister, Elena. If he’s not at home watching the news, you can probably find Zach in his bed reading the news. Zach’s dream is to retire early and move to his ranch (complete with a wraparound porch and enormous personal library) in Wyoming. zfaulise@gmail.com
Sanjeet Hattarki is a junior actuarial science major at The University of Texas at Austin. I have lived in Texas my whole life; I was born in Fort Worth and I grew up in McKinney and Allen. My hobbies include travelling, basketball and reading current events. I hope to move on to grad school at some point and receive my FSA certification in the future.
Adam Hood is a senior Computer Science major from Pearland, Texas. He will be working as a software engineer upon graduation here in Austin. Adam enjoys playing soccer, reading, discovering new music, photography, and traveling. He also enjoys trying new coffee shops around Austin and has recently found out that the cinnamon latté at Vintage Heart is probably the best latté he’s ever had. adamghood@utexas.edu
Jacob Huerta‘s hometown is Corpus Christi, TX. He swims for the University of Texas, and is a freshman Biology major interested in med school. He enjoys writing about past memories.
Adrianne Leibman is a senior currently planning to graduate in May. My sister attended UT before me and was my influence to go here. I grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Episcopal High School. I enjoy traveling, photography, and attending concerts. I am an American Studies major with a minor in Communication. When I graduate I plan to move out to LA or NYC to pursue a career in the Fashion Industry. My best email is adrianneleibman@yahoo.com
Ebony Nwanebu is from Fairview, Texas, which is a small town north of Dallas, nestled in between Allen and McKinney. I am a senior and a volleyball player here at the University of Texas at Austin. I am majoring in ALD: Youth and Community Studies with a concentration in social services, and I’m minoring in communications which is the field that I eventually want to end up in. I didn’t start my education here at Texas, I actually transferred from the University of Southern California (USC), where I majored in English, after my sophomore year. I have a little brother named Max who is the highlight of my life. I am a proud Millennial who is into acai bowls, trendy coffee shops and polaroid pictures. I’m a firm believer that “No one is better than you, and you are better than no one” and our 44th president, Barack Obama, is my hero. ebonynwanebu7@gmail.com
Ana Parson is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin. She is pursuing a public relations degree with a focus on corporate event planning, along with a business certificate from the McCombs School of Business. Ana is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, but has lived in El Paso and Austin, Texas. She is fluent in English and Spanish. Even though her education takes most of her time, Ana enjoys exploring Austin, ballroom dancing and going to the gym. She loves meeting new people and is very observant. She wants to live in a big city like New York and work as a corporate event planner for a big company. App most used on her iPhone: Spotify. anapaola_parson@utexas.edu
Juan Manuel Penaranda is a junior Computer Science major at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also an international student from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. His passions include programming, literature, philosophy, and soccer. Online and mobile media are definitely the content sources that he consumes the most, specifically through Reddit and Quora, and his iPhone has become an essential part of his life, for he communicates mostly through Whatsapp, the main messaging application back in his home country. jmpenaranda@utexas.edu.
Pamela Pimienta is a third year student at the University of Texas at Austin. She is an Economics major and has completed her Business Foundations Certificate. After Pamela graduates in May 2018, she plans to attend graduate school to get her Masters in Finance. When Pamela is not studying, she loves to spend her time outdoors running, hiking, or playing soccer. After she graduates, Pamela dreams of taking a year off with school to travel across Europe. pamelapimienta@gmail.com.
Tiffany Pu is a sophomore studying Speech Pathology at the University of Texas.Tiffany was born in Fort Worth, TX. During fifth grade, her parents decided that sheneeded to learn some Chinese so they sent her to China for four years. She cameback to Texas when she was a freshman in high school. She has two little brothers.She loves travelling, photography, dance and spending time with family and friends.Tiffany is a current member of Alpha Sigma Rho and was choreography chair in Fall2015. tiffanypu@utexas.edu
Michael Scaria is a third year student at the University of Texas. He is a Computer Science student and hopes move to the Bay Area after college, where he has spent the past four summers working at various start ups and companies. He was born in Long Island, New York but moved to Dallas, Texas as a child. Michael has always been interested in technology, his first foray into iPhone related coding was when he first jailbroke his sister’s iPod touch. Five years later, Michael was able to score an internship at Apple in Cupertino and got to meet Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple! Other than coding, Michael likes to hang out with his friends, cook, and listen to music. The most used app on his iPhone is Spotify. scaria@utexas.edu.
Ezra Siegel is a fourth-year public relations major from Westchester, New York. He currently covers Longhorn football and basketball for the Dallas Morning News, and he just finished serving as the Daily Texan’s sports editor. He mostly uses his iPhone for enjoyment and connection, but often must use it for work and reporting. In his free time, Ezra loves watching professional and college sports and eating hot wings. You can reach Ezra at EzSiegel@gmail.com
Spencer Soicher is a sophomore journalism major at The University of Texas at Austin. He was born in New York City and moved to Denver, Colorado when he was 5. His hobbies include watching sports, hanging out with friends, and playing basketball. He uses his Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook to keep in touch with his friends at home. He loves to eat and try new foods in Austin Austin and enjoys attending Longhorn football and basketball games. He hopes to be a broadcaster when he graduates in 2019. spencer.soicher@gmail.com.
Robert Uhr is a senior from Lockhart, Texas. Robert is a Senior studying Linguistics at the University of Texas. He grew up as the only child of his father, but has two half siblings. In his friend time he loves to play basketball, playing video games, and just being outside. His favorite things to do is try out new restaurants. Robert hopes to become an American Sign-Language interpreter and just help people. burtxc@gmail.com
Shannon Yap is a senior majoring in Computer Science. He is an international student from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He currently works as a Research Assistant at the Texas Advanced Computing Center. His interests specifically in technology mainly lie in developing Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality applications using game engines. Additionally he loves reading books and running during his spare time. shannonyap@utexas.edu
Meg Zschappel is a sophomore student at The University of Texas at Austin. She is working towards earning a Corporate Communications degree with Certificates in Business Foundations and Undergraduate Real Estate. Meg is from Houston, Texas but would to live in Colorado after she graduates. Meg is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and is currently the Chief Finance assistant. In her free time,she enjoys to travel, hang out with her friends, play tennis and wakeboard on Lake Travis. She is very technology savvy and loves how she can have access to everything on her phone. The most used apps on her phone would be Instagram and Snapchat. zschappelmeg@icloud.com