UTAH VALLEY STATE’S GRADUATING CLASS OF 2007 IS A GROUP OF MORE THAN
3,500 students on their way to graduate school, employment or to pursue other personal aspirations. Although their diplomas vary in name, each will leave UVSC with the same encouragement and support they received upon their arrival. The following article features just five of this year’s graduates who are focused, driven and have already begun influencing the world around them.
MODEL BEHAVIOR
 Chinyere Sam of Christ Church, Barbados, will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in information technology this spring. But her technology know-how is only one of the reasons this graduate is one to watch. Already, Sam has put her UVSC education, talent for business and eye for beauty to good use.
As a child, Sam aspired to become a model or an actress. She received training in Barbados, but her interests were not limited to modeling. As a computer operator, Sam wanted to expand her knowledge in information technology and soon enrolled at UVSC with that goal in mind, while continuing to work as a model.
“I have a passion for modeling,” Sam said. “But when I came to the states, they said I wasn’t tall enough for the runway. So, I worked with other modeling agencies in the area to train their models. One day I thought, why am I doing this for someone else when I could do it on my own?”
As a result, Sam founded the Provo-based modeling agency, Chinyere International. Focusing on recruiting talent with ethic backgrounds, Sam has discovered a unique need for models and actors with multi-cultural backgrounds in Utah Valley. “I started getting requests from other agencies to see if
I had any friends that were black, Asian or Hispanic for modeling or commercials,” she said. “So I knew there was a need for this kind of service.” Established two years ago, Chinyere International now represents 30 models and actors, many of them fellow students at UVSC. Although she is the only full-time employee, she uses independent contractors for acting and fitness coaching.
Starting a business while earning a degree wasn’t always easy. “It has been difficult to balance my business and school, but I hung in there,” Sam said. “I think education is more important than anything else, and I wanted to achieve that degree.”
Her ability to keep life in balance as a student is something Sam credits her advisers and instructors at UVSC for.
“I am so glad I attended UVSC,” she said. “The people I have met here have been true mentors. I have always had such a strong support system through the multi-cultural center, the financial aid office and my professors. They have always encouraged me to reach my goals and maintain my focus.”
A KNACK FOR NUMBERS
 Looking for a summer internship, finance major Amy Brockman from Heber City, Utah, approached the UVSC Career Services & Student Employment office for help. She was soon hired by Matrix Communications, a telecommunications company based in American Fork, Utah, where she was recently offered a full-time job as the company’s controller – complete with a signing bonus. Brockman will manage all the financial operations for the company.
“The experience I gained as a student at UVSC has been incredibly valuable,” Brockman said. “When I graduate in April, I will be starting in a position beyond what others would normally start at. My UVSC degree has made me extremely marketable.”
Although excited about her job, Brockman hopes to continue her education and earn an
MBA. “I’d love to come back to UVSC and teach – give students the same type of guidance I received here,” she said. “But I want to go out and get some experience first.”
MAKING THE “SOCIAL MEDIA” CONNECTION
 Graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in integrated studies (communication and community health), Adam Torkildson from Stanley, N.D., is showing seasoned Utah Valley public relations professionals the ropes of an emerging communication genre called “social media.”
What started as an internship for The Walton Group, a Provo-based public relations agency, soon developed into a more permanent position for Torkildson when he doubled traffic to the agency’s Web site in a few short months – ranked both number one and two on Google.com. His success is grounded in social media: blogs,
Internet marketing, community forums and sites like MySpace.com and YouTube.com.
“The public relations community is just starting to see the value in using these methods of communication,” Torkildson said. “On the surface it seems like I get to play on the Internet all day; watching videos, chatting online, etc. But really, it’s very strategic. You’ve still got to send the right message, you just craft it differently.”
Torkildson’s expertise with social media is already being noticed. After graduation, he has several job offers, including one from The Walton Group, but he’s keeping his options open.
“Someday I’d like to be the manager of an entire department devoted to working within these social medias,” he said. “I’ve developed a real passion for it.”
FROM CAPITOL HILL TO MEDICAL SCHOOL
 Already accepted to several prominent medical schools, Judd Fitzgerald, a biology major from Delta, Utah, is on his way to living out his childhood dream.
“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor,” he said. “I want to do something important that will challenge me and be a positive force in my life.”
Although he always knew he’d be a doctor, he didn’t always know he’d start his educational career at UVSC.
“When I first came here I thought I’d transfer after a few years,” Fitzgerald said. “But when I got involved in the biology department and student government, I realized I didn’t want to be anywhere else.”
In fact, his commitment to UVSC has taken him far beyond a typical collegiate experience. He has worked closely with School of Science & Health Dean Sam Rushforth to lobby legislatures, both in state and national, for UVSC’s virtual herbarium among other projects. He was also part of the lobbying effort for UVSC’s new library – a digital learning center designed to accommodate modern learning methods – while he served as a student government senator.
The opportunity to be involved on Utah’s Capitol Hill combined with his determination to be accepted to medical school are just a few of the reasons Fitzgerald chose to remain at UVSC to earn his undergraduate degree.
“I didn’t transfer to a different institution because I wanted to do more than sit in a classroom,” he said. “There are so many opportunities to take advantage of that can enhance your education at UVSC,” he said. “I had good grades and MCAT scores – but that’s not what set me apart when I applied to medical schools. It was my interaction with College professors and administrators, leadership opportunities and undergraduate research that made all the difference.”
KNOW GREATER HERO
 Maegan Hoyt, a physical education major with an emphasis in exercise science from Eden Prairie, Minn., transferred to UVSC on a volleyball scholarship as a sophomore. She played with the team during its third season as Division I, winning 10 of its 11 games and taking home the D-I Independent Championship title in 2005.
Since then, Hoyt has been a student assistant coach her senior year and hopes to continue a coaching career after graduation. “I have a lot of options open right now,” she said. “I always want to keep playing the game, so coaching is appealing. But I’m also looking into going overseas to play professionally for awhile.”
Whatever her decision, something Hoyt knows for sure is that she wants to be a positive influence in the lives of others. For the past year, Hoyt has been part of UVSC’s Know Greater Heroes, a character education and leadership-training program for grade school students. The Know Greater Heroes program teaches UVSC student athletes, dancers and cheerleaders how to be positive role models in the community and make a difference in the lives of children.
“Know Greater Heroes has been an amazing experience – it’s been life changing,” Hoyt said.
“You learn so much about who you are and how to be your best self. Then you go out to the elementary schools for assemblies and see how excited the kids get to see us there. It’s inspiring to see the principles we teach influence them so positively.”
In her own life, Hoyt feels UVSC has been the positive influence she needed. “UVSC has been a great guide and it was a wonderful choice for me to come here,” she said. “I’m looking forward to coaching someday and hopefully inspire others the way I have been at UVSC.”
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