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Matt Guenther | Signal Mountain High School, Class of ‘12For two years in a row, Matt Guenther has been recognized by UTK’s Environmental Science Department: first, as Sophomore Scholar of the Year, and then as Junior Scholar of the Year. But in his estimation, his biggest achievements have taken place outside of the classroom – like last summer, when he climbed to the summit of Grand Teton in Wyoming. “I hiked nearly half of Yellowstone’s trails and summited some of its highest peaks,” says Guenther. “But all of them seemed insignificant compared to the Grand.” Guenther will climb again this summer – and he’s already planning a rowing trip from California to Hawaii for 2016.

Daniel Murch | Cleveland High School, Class of ‘08When Daniel Murch was a junior at Lee University, he was tasked with creating a mock non-profit for his community psychology class. That was the beginning of Transition Furniture

– his now REAL non-profit organization that helps fill empty homes in the Cleveland area with furniture. Murch says he was inspired by many years of doing relief work and witness-ing the needs of families affected by disasters like the 2011 tornadoes. His organization now works with numerous agencies like the Red Cross to supply furniture to fire victims, families affected by natural disasters, individuals who were previously homeless, and victims of domestic abuse.

Eric del Valle | Notre Dame, Class of ‘10Eric del Valle’s career success can be attributed largely to his entrepreneurial insight and interpersonal skills. Since founding his own online watch business in high school, he has now sold watches to over 14 countries. Del Valle is currently studying marketing at the University of Florida. But just last summer, he not only scored a highly sought-after internship at Google (there are 6,000 applicants on average), but came out No. 1 in his sales intern class. However, del Valle points out that, “I’m humbled to work for such an incredible organization that invests in their employees intellectual curiosity and personal development.”

“What are you up to these days?” It’s a question all-too-familiar to recent high school and college graduates. For these 19 Chattanooga area alumni, the answer is simple: making a mark on the world.

On the Map

Claire Henley | Chattanooga Christian School, Class of ‘08After graduating from UTC in 2012, Claire Henley took a life-changing trip to Aspen, Colorado. That experience inspired her newly released novel, “51 Weeks: The Unfin-ished Journey.” Henley says that during her time out west, she encountered not only true adventure, but “love, loss, and the beauty of God’s grace.” Her memoir chronicles everything from the pain of losing a close family member to the triumph of backpack-ing across a 50-mile stretch of high desert. “I know through God I have a voice, and I know I am meant to use it,” she says.

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Harris English | Baylor School, Class of ‘07The international golf scene has its eye on former Red Raider Harris English. Just last year, the 24-year-old proved himself to be among the top golfers in the world with two PGA Tour victories – the first at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June and the sec-ond at Mayakoba in the fall. These successes earned him full status on the PGA Tour for the next five years and an invitation to the 2014 Masters Tournament. This year so far has proved no different, as he’s already notched four top-10 finishes in his first eight starts, wedging his way into the top 50 in the World Golf Ranking.

Maria Dill | Boyd Buchanan, Class of ‘08Maria Dill has always had a passion for history and government, but it wasn’t until after high school that she was “swept up in the excitement” of politics. While pursu-ing a degree in political science at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, she interned with Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett for a summer, and then with Senator Bob Corker in his Knoxville District Office. Dill currently works on Capitol Hill with Congressman John Duncan as the deputy press secretary and legislative correspondent while simultaneously pursuing her master’s degree from American University.

Andrew Stephen Kerr | Center for Creative Arts, Class of ‘08Andrew Kerr was born with a knack for performance. When he was three, his mom took him out of gymnastics after a frustrated teacher told her, “he just danced around.” He was enrolled in tap and ballet lessons – which he continued into high school and college. In May of 2012, his life turned upside down when he got a call from the Walt Disney Corporation: they wanted him to start work as a parade and show performer in Orlando in just two weeks. He accepted – and has been dancing daily at the Magic Kingdom for almost two years.

Brittany Paige Munro | East Hamilton High School, Class of ‘11Brittany Munro, a current junior at East Tennessee State University, knows precisely what she wants: to return home to Hamilton County to teach algebra to 8th and 9th graders. This desire, coupled with her belief that “teaching is the way you reach out to and better society,” inspired her to conduct research under Dr. Ryan Nivens on how “one’s perception of mathematics affects teaching strategies.” After studying abroad last summer in Scotland, she expanded this research to compare how teach-ing strategies vary by culture. Munro is currently preparing to present her findings at several local and regional education conferences.

Anna Mittelstadt | GPS, Class of ‘08Many little girls dream of breaking into the fashion world, but only a few are able to live out that fantasy. Anna Mittelstadt – now the proud owner of her own fashion line, Anna Victoria Design – is one of the privileged few. Mittelstadt studied apparel design and production at Auburn, during which time she received a scholarship that enabled her to intern under Rebecca Taylor in New York. She hit the ground running after graduation and is now growing her line daily at her location in Chat-tanooga’s Business Development Center. Anna Victoria pieces are available at select retailers across the Southeast and through a new online store. This year, her fashions made it onto the Nashville Fashion Week runway.

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Jacob Carter | Heritage High School, Class of ‘13Jacob Carter could have gone anywhere after high school. He graduated with honors as the class president and a three-sport athlete. But as he toured colleges and talked to coaches, something just didn’t feel right. That’s when he felt a tug to minister abroad. Carter joined Youth with a Mission (YWAM), and left to attend discipleship training school in Australia. He stayed almost five months before leaving to serve for a period in India. Carter returned to the states in February and was hired soon after as a Youth Pas-tor in Ringgold. He’s currently working on starting a homeless ministry in Chattanooga.

Carly Westling | St. Andrew’s-Sewanee, Class of ’09When Carly Westling moved to Tennessee from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, she instantly fell in love with the land, finding a “sense of place” amidst a rural setting. She went on to major in environmental studies and biology at Middlebury College in Vermont, meanwhile heading up a service organization called NOM, Nutrition, Out-reach and Mentoring. Westling is currently serving with FoodCorps, working with teachers to incorporate food education into their curriculum. After her service program ends in July, Westling plans to go to Spain to work on farms and to travel across Europe before settling in Portland and opening a farm with educational programming.

Jake Laband | Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, Class of ‘08Jake Laband’s first trip to China with his Chattanoogan violin teachers sparked enough curiosity in him that he decided to study the language in college. He began studying Chi-nese at Brandeis University, and traveled to China multiple times throughout his college career to study China’s tea industry. After graduation, Laband moved to Beijing to work for a small business consulting international schools and enterprises in Asia on Chinese industry and culture. He recently landed a job at the US-China Business Council, where he is the deputy representative and manager of business advisory services.

Austin Sanders | Bradley Central High School, Class of ‘13For Austin Sanders, there was no anxious waiting for a callback. Sanders was recruited by the UTK Volunteers prior to his junior year football season. During his high school career, Sanders won Tennessee’s Class AAA Mr. Football Lineman of the Year award, helped his team earn back-to-back County Championship titles, and received a four-star rating from ESPN. Sanders is now adjusting to the “grind” of freshman life at UTK, majoring in psychology, minoring in business, and playing Division 1 football.

Jordan Humble | McCallie School, Class of ‘09McCallie graduate Jordan Humble has traveled around the world for competitive cycling, earning a No. 1 national ranking in his age bracket in 2008. Now he’s garnering atten-tion in the cycling world for another reason: Escadrille, his revolutionary startup com-pany that sells “high performance cycling apparel.” Last year, Humble won first place in a University of Tennessee Business School entrepreneurial competition for the company, securing $1,000 in seed capital and a collection of free incubator, legal, and consulting services. Since then he has secured $10,000 in seed capital through various competitions at UT.

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Tim Ballard | Silverdale Baptist Academy, Class of ‘09Tim Ballard has had his heart set on studying law all his life. Now, he’s turning his dreams into a reality as a first-year student at the University of South Carolina’s School of Law. Ballard’s summer plans include working as a clerk for Alan Wilson, the Attor-ney General of South Carolina. That won’t be his first real world experience in law: he interned at the law firm of Lawrence & Lawrence while attending college at UTK for political science. Additionally, he did a summer internship under Senator Corker in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 2012.

Alex Apyan | Hixson High School, Class of ‘07Alex Apyan never moved on from his elementary school fascination with space and rocket ships. Instead, he deepened his love through space camps, trips to the Challenger Center, and later studying aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Shortly after graduation, Apyan accepted a job offer from NASA. Now he’s training to work in mission control to operate the international space station electrical power and cooling systems. Apyan says that in his field, the key to success is learning how to learn. “Even when you may not immediately see the direct application for what you’re working on, soak it in,” Apyan says. “It will always come in handy later.”

Kevin Ward | Soddy-Daisy High School, Class of ‘01A three-time wrestling state champion at Soddy-Daisy, Kevin Ward was destined to break barriers in the world of athletics. After high school, Ward went on to wrestle at Oklaho-ma State University – during which time his team won four national titles. Eventually, he earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, but he wasn’t done with wrestling yet. He accepted a job at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas where he began the first wrestling program in the state. This year, his team placed 4th in the Division II National Tournament, and he was recently honored as the NCAA Wrestling Coach of the Year.

Ashley McDowell | Ringgold High School, Class of ‘09Ashley McDowell’s passion for people and her innate ability to help others open up led her to pursue broadcast journalism. McDowell majored in journalism and minored in business at Berry College, meanwhile working as an anchor at the college news station. During college, she also interned at WRCB-TV 3 in Chattanooga – an opportunity that allowed her to experience all facets of the newsroom. McDowell graduated from Berry in 2013. Just last month, she accepted a position as an anchor for the morning show at WBKB in Alpena, Michigan.

Mary McCreedy | Red Bank High School, Class of ‘08Though Mary McCreedy ran cross-country at Red Bank High School, she didn’t com-pete in her first marathon until her 21st birthday. Now 23, she has run four. After high school, McCreedy moved out west to attend the University of Utah where she studied exercise and sports science and nutrition. She graduated in 2013 and now works in the physical therapy gym at the university’s Orthopaedic Center. She believes her passion for exercise and health enables her to set an example for her patients. “When people see me being active, they want to be active too,” she says.

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Funding for this project was provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant: 90FM0048. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations

expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families

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