Someday I hope to organize the greatest informal scavenger hunt the world’s ever seen across the UT campus. This desire stems from my discovery of a surprisingly wide variety of strange, interesting, and compelling places over my past year on the Forty Acres and from a desire to share those places with others. I think that this strange physical phenomenon–of coming to college and suddenly reverting back to an eight-year-old state of mind that just wants to explore–is in some ways a reflection of passions I’ve had my entire life. As long as I can remember, I’ve been compelled by the idea of learning something new, of discovering some new horizon within my mind or within the world around me, and especially within the people around me. It’s why I was so drawn to journalism in high school, which carried with it the opportunity to discover the story that lies within each person and that is always worth telling. It’s why I love spending hours each week in an organization called Young Life, getting to know freshmen at UT and investing in relationships that without fail broaden and deepen the way I see the world, while hoping to have the same effect on them through our friendship. It’s why the exhilaration of stumbling into participation in a couple of entrepreneurship groups on campus has far outweighed in my mind the significant work they require. It’s why the idea of being a high school teacher, and getting to lead others to discovery, hasn’t left my mind in the past two years, despite loving my Business Honors major. It’s why my relationship with a God who loves me and wants me to discover and participate in things far grander, far more whimsical, and far more meaningful and fulfilling than anything I could conceive on my own has become the most important part of my life. This desire for discovery–for pushing the limits, for opening doors no one has ever told me to open, for trying to see all that the world has to offer–has always been present in me. And my four years at UT have only grown these desires, and I am confident that they will continue to grow.

Majors
Business Honors; Finance

Honors Program
Canfield Business Honors Program

Other Academic Interests
Management consulting and entrepreneurship

Extracurricular Activities 
Beta Upsilon Chi, Silver Spurs, Young Life

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program (FASP)?
What drew me to the Forty Acres Scholars Program was the holistic approach that the program takes to supporting and enriching my education and overall college experience, with particular emphasis on the personal connection I have felt from the start. If you spend any amount of time around Forty Acres Scholars, the last aspect of the program you will probably hear about is the financial aspect. The money to fund the program and individual scholars’ expenses is critical, of course, but the products of how that money is used are just as compelling. Forty Acres has an incredible network that it immediately enables you to plug into, which has already created unparalleled opportunities for growth in my education and future career. The program also has thoughtful and individually-tailored programming that compounds your experiences in the classroom and builds a sense of community much deeper than I could have ever imagined. The program is selective and as a result very personal and tightly knit. Since day one, I have been able to not only grow from the program, but have also been able to give back and become an integral part of shaping it into the even greater program it is constantly becoming. And as all this is happening, I have grown incredibly deep friendships with the other scholars, who in many ways have genuinely become like family.

What do you want prospective students to know about The University of Texas?
There is nowhere I would rather be. I didn't grow up a Longhorn, but I've quickly fallen in love with this place. Austin is pretty much the best city possible to do college in, and UT itself has almost unlimited opportunities. You can never make a small school feel big, but you can make a big school feel small, and I've seen that happen remarkably quickly at Texas. It truly feels like a small place, and like anyone I meet has some connection to someone I know. People are proud to go here, and that makes it such an energizing place to be. And there's such diversity of thought and interest that you can really pave your own way however you want, here. And the education I've gotten, in formal classroom settings and elsewhere, has been so, so good. I could talk for hours about why I'm so glad I chose to come here, but for now, I'll spare you the rest. But seriously, I'm beyond thankful for this place and would choose it again over and over.