Portraits

Portrait of Ballroom Dancers on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand.

Khadija Abdinasir is a student in Weber State University’s Outdoor & Community Recreation Education program and a teaching assistant in the Climbing I course.

Madeline spoke or her education journey at graduation. 

Nia Botti poses with her camera outside the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 24, 2025. Two summers ago, Nia Botti ’25 and her Canon EOS R spent June and July visiting late antique and early medieval monasteries across Greece. She trekked to these thousand-year-old brick, stone and marble buildings, some perched atop towering sandstone cliffs, to photograph the icons inside and talk to the monks and nuns who are their modern-day keepers and historians. But her trip wasn’t just a summer vacation — it was a research expedition funded by an Arts and Humanities Student Scholarship from the Council on Undergraduate Research. A Religious and Theological Studies major from Sugar Land, Botti grew up speaking modern Greek at home and ancient Greek in the liturgies of her Greek Orthodox church. “Ever since I was little, I’ve always been interested in the interplay of different religions,” she says. “I want to understand how both Christian and Jewish texts, traditions and artwork have influenced religion as we know it today.”

Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz holds her cell phonoe while standing in a telephone booth in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 30, 20224. Ruiz is transforming Austin’s PR scene with a bilingual, multicultural vision. In 2023, Ruiz received national recognition for exceptional contributions to the field when Ragan Communications and PR Daily named her a Rising Star (30 and under). In 2024, her agency, Refuerzo Collaborative, won the Austin Young Chamber FAVE Award for a young professional-led business and the Hispanic Public Relations Association National ¡BRAVO! Award for nonprofit campaign of the year.

A graduate stands for a portrait after Legacy Walk with the downtown Austin skyline in the background.

Transfer student, Sam McFarland '25, rediscovers his passion for storytelling and film. 

On the hilltop, McFarland connected with Bella Harris ‘23, who was the current president of Topper Radio, the student-run radio station. He told Harris about his interest in film and she connected him with Professor of Journalism and Digital Media Jena Heath.

Next thing, Heath was in McFarland’s inbox notifying him about an internship as a Camp Counselor at the Austin Film Festival. Here, he helped a group of young filmmakers create a movie in a week, reigniting his passion for film. 

Around this time, Heath and colleagues created a new interdisciplinary major in the School of Arts and Humanities, Digital Storytelling and Content Creation. This was the hands-on kind of storytelling McFarland was craving and opened the door to festivals, internships and countless experiential learning opportunities in the entertainment business. 

“Digital storytelling is just everything I'm interested in, so I don't mind absolutely packing my schedule with it,” McFarland said.

Environmental earth and soil sciences student Nabila Wildman processes some soil samples in the soil sciences lab on campus.

Sophomore Jack McManus poses for a portrait in a wheat field in Walla Walla, Wash., on May 5, 2025, for an upcoming student spotlight. 

Graduate Chris Camp takes in all of the commencement experience as his four years of hard work culminates in a Bachelor's degree.