Who We Are
AUDREY HASSE is a Media Communications major at Webster University in Saint Louis, Missouri. She is a staff writer and the multimedia editor on The Ampersand, Webster's student produced magazine. She is interested in and active on all types of social media, whether it's tweeting, blogging, or Facebook. Some would argue she's addicted. This is her first time studying abroad. She greets this opportunity with excitement and nervousness. She is mostly worried about being able to pick up Wi-Fi.
TARA HUMPHREY A Webster University senior, Tara spends her spring and fall semesters buckled down to her schoolwork as a full-time student. Working towards her Master’s degree in Human Resource Development she is propelled by her upcoming endeavors of starting a life coaching and strategic business planning company for locals and small business owners.
Tara began traveling shortly after she accepted a position with Vector Marketing and CUTCO Cutlery. She is also proud to say that at 21-years-old she is self-sufficient. She grew up as an only child with tremendously supportive parents. Who she was as a child really shines through on who she is today as: adventurous, ambitious, and resilient to much of what life throws her way. She is an avid writer and reader; she reads roughly 30 books per year in addition to all of her other activities. Her closest relationship is with her grandmother who helped her discover her spirituality and faith in God.
Tara really values her free time as much as she does her opportunities to travel. Traveling has been a big part of Tara’s life, taking at least two international trips a year and roughly three trips within the US. Some of her favorite places have been Panama City, Panama and Budapest, Hungary. The thing that attracts her most to other cultures is the underlying history in seeing and experiencing them.
Tara began traveling shortly after she accepted a position with Vector Marketing and CUTCO Cutlery. She is also proud to say that at 21-years-old she is self-sufficient. She grew up as an only child with tremendously supportive parents. Who she was as a child really shines through on who she is today as: adventurous, ambitious, and resilient to much of what life throws her way. She is an avid writer and reader; she reads roughly 30 books per year in addition to all of her other activities. Her closest relationship is with her grandmother who helped her discover her spirituality and faith in God.
Tara really values her free time as much as she does her opportunities to travel. Traveling has been a big part of Tara’s life, taking at least two international trips a year and roughly three trips within the US. Some of her favorite places have been Panama City, Panama and Budapest, Hungary. The thing that attracts her most to other cultures is the underlying history in seeing and experiencing them.
ERIN SHILDMYER is a 23 year-old senior at Webster University. She is majoring in Media Communications with an emphasis in both photography and journalism. After school, she would love to get a job that allows her to follow her passions for both travel and photojournalism.
Erin began her world traveling at the age of sixteen and fell in love with it immediately. She has had some unique experiences through her travels such as staying with Nowak Indians in the mountains of Mexico, living through a landslide, and feeding villages in Cambodia. As a child, Erin's father always encouraged her to explore photography. Traveling the world is what truly sparked Erin's love for photography though, and encouraged her to pursue it as a career. While photojournalism and travel photography are her main loves, she thoroughly enjoys any opportunity to capture the beautiful moments in life through her camera.
Erin began her world traveling at the age of sixteen and fell in love with it immediately. She has had some unique experiences through her travels such as staying with Nowak Indians in the mountains of Mexico, living through a landslide, and feeding villages in Cambodia. As a child, Erin's father always encouraged her to explore photography. Traveling the world is what truly sparked Erin's love for photography though, and encouraged her to pursue it as a career. While photojournalism and travel photography are her main loves, she thoroughly enjoys any opportunity to capture the beautiful moments in life through her camera.
EMILY WEAVER is a senior advertising major at Webster and expects to graduate in December. She thought she knew exactly what she wanted to do for a really long time: a famous photographer. It wasn’t until she started as a freshman at Webster University, that my perception of what she wanted to be “when I grew up” couldn’t be farther from what she actually wanted. It wasn’t until I began watching the television show, Mad Men, that she saw a real passion for advertising. She could incorporate her artwork into a field that has legs. She always wanted to make the small, unnoticed things beautiful in my photography and realized she could do the same thing with advertising.
Emily took a trip to Sicily a couple years ago and that awakened her wanderlust. She's been itching to explore the world more and is so excited to have the opportunity to do so through Webster. She has a knack for writing and it’s a plus that this travel excursion doubles as a journalism class. When she graduates from Webster, she's hoping to start working at a Saint Louis ad agency as an art director. She would love to see her career grow to the point that she's able to take time off to travel the world. Her ultimate travel goal is to meditate in Bali!
Emily took a trip to Sicily a couple years ago and that awakened her wanderlust. She's been itching to explore the world more and is so excited to have the opportunity to do so through Webster. She has a knack for writing and it’s a plus that this travel excursion doubles as a journalism class. When she graduates from Webster, she's hoping to start working at a Saint Louis ad agency as an art director. She would love to see her career grow to the point that she's able to take time off to travel the world. Her ultimate travel goal is to meditate in Bali!
LINDA WILLIAMS is taking her fourth class of Webster University students to Scotland this year. As a television producer for almost 30 years, she often reported on "weekend getaways". She is an Adjunct Professor teaching Journalism courses, and now works full time as an Academic Advisor in the School of Communications. Linda's mother grew up on the Isle of Arran where her grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse in one of the small villages. Linda's father was born in America to Scottish immigrants. Her parents met in college in Glasgow when her father was studying abroad.
WEBSTER UNIVERSITY is located in Saint Louis, Missouri. We're a private, nonprofit, accredited university that offers a balance of arts, sciences and professional undergraduate and graduate degrees – on campus and online. Webster is one of the most diverse and global universities in the world. Click for more information: www.webster.edu