Student and Faculty Biographies
The Students
Raylyn Bowers
I hope to become an environmental or scientific journalist. I am looking forward to spending time in nature and learning more about different parks across the country and the problems that are affecting them.
Kaitlin Evans – @kaiti.christine
After I graduate from Texas State, I hope to work as a reporter or columnist in Austin. I’m looking forward to gaining new and exciting experiences in some of the most beautiful places in America.
Charlcee Cervantez – @CharlceeOdessa
After I graduate, I hope to get my master’s degree and work in the public relations field. I’ve never traveled outside of Texas, so I’m excited to go to other states and see all of these wonderful places.
Nancy Gonzalez
I plan to pursue a career in digital marketing, helping businesses raise awareness of their social media presence. I’m super excited to have the opportunity to travel to these parks, and I can’t wait to produce content to inspire others to go out and visit!
Lauren Verdi – @laurenverdi
After I graduate, I want to establish my career as a PR professional, hopefully finding work in social media marketing. I’m really looking forward to shooting a documentary at Zion National Park!
Jacqueline Dalehite – @Miss_tactrix
My goal after Texas State is to work in the video game industry being a gaming or TV host. I’m looking forward to exploring and hiking in different states that I’ve never been to, and I’m excited to tell a story about the national parks to the world.
Sandra Blair Richmond – @b14ir
My goal is to have a career in the entertainment industry creating social media content for concerts, festivals and large events. I'm really looking forward to hiking up The Narrows at Zion National Park.
Amanda Compian – @amandayc
My goals are writing and producing content for a music magazine or label, doing media relations within the industry or working at a nonprofit. I’ve never been to any of the parks we’re going to, so I’m looking forward to traveling to new places and making memories with the group.
Alyssa Sulivan – @ally.sullivan98
I want to do public relations and digital media for organizations in innovative industries such as food, health and environmental protection. In addition to traveling to such amazing new places, I am really looking forward to interviewing people and hearing what brought them to the park.
Hannah Holder – @hannahnholder
My goal is to work in journalism as a writer covering politics, preferably somewhere up North where I can see snow and beautiful mountains. I’m really looking forward to creating multimedia journalism, something I’ve never done before.
Cheyenne Wells
I aspire to work as a public relations practitioner for a firm after graduating from Texas State.
Andrew Wright – @andrewmason_w
After graduating from Texas State, I would like to travel while doing freelance photography. On this trip, I’m really looking forward to getting out of my comfort zone and expanding my portfolio.
The Faculty
Dale Blasingame – Senior Lecturer, Digital Media Innovation
I love being able to share some of the most beautiful parts of the country with students, many of whom have never gone camping or been outside of Texas. It’s especially gratifying when the students themselves then become park evangelists — encouraging their peers to follow in their footsteps. I don’t mean this to be hyperbolic, but I hope this program changes their lives.
Kym Fox – Associate Professor of Practice, Journalism
Real-world experience is the best way to learn journalism, and a trip like this gives us the opportunity to create community, to build a sort of outdoor newsroom where we all work together. I hope students come away from this trip with stories — the stories they’ll write about the people they met and the places they visited, but also stories about their own experience and how this opportunity changed them.
Nicole Hengst – Lecturer, Journalism
Programs like these push students to think outside the box and use skills in new ways. It's much closer to real-world experience than you can get in a classroom, and that’s invaluable for students when they enter the workforce. I hope this program reminds students that although they are surrounded by technology, there is a big world to explore beyond the world wide web.