Stephen Henderson

Stephen Henderson, a native of Maryland, went to BYU-Idaho because he was interested in interacting with members of the church. He graduated from BYU-Idaho in 2011 with a degree in communication and an emphasis in journalism and public relations.

He was apart of Scroll. They wanted him to be an editor for Scroll, but instead he took a position with News & Notes the official employee and retiree newsletter of BYU-Idaho. There he had the opportunity to report on innovations in the classroom. A few of his stories that he wrote for News & Notes were published in local newspapers.

Henderson formed relationships with his teachers while at BYU-Idaho. These people have been very influential in his life. He said of Brother Ron Bennett, “He was awesome. He really, really pushed us to be good at what we did.” One assignment Brother Bennett gave Henderson and his class was to find a random name on a headstone then research that person and find stories on them.

“The nature of the assignments that Brother Bennett had us do were similar to the kind of what you do in the real world,” said Henderson. He also liked that Brother Bennett never said anything that wasn’t “reinforcing.” To this day, Henderson is still influenced by Brother Bennett and recognizes that he helped him realize his love for journalism.

Henderson loved the environment that exists at BYU-Idaho. “You can share what’s on your mind and can really share ideas back and forth and they actually really encourage it,” he said.

He discusses how school is meant to be a safe place where you can mess up. “Try things, experiment, explore, and get out of your comfort zone. The ones who are making it [in the city] are experimenting and trying new things,” said Henderson. He hopes students realize that college is the best time to do this.

Taking his own advice while in college, Henderson got an internship in Rigby helping out a small medical recruiting office. “It went horribly,” he said, “and I just straight up quit.” This experience allowed him to confirm what he didn’t want to do.

Upon graduation, Henderson wrote business profiles and feature stories for Melaleuca in Idaho Falls. He wanted to gain more experience though, and earn a master’s degree.

One day while still at BYU-I, he attended a Communication Day. He met Shane Snow, a graduate of BYU-Idaho and The Columbia School of Journalism. Henderson thought, “If kids who went to BYU-I can go to Columbia, I can too!” While at Melaleuca Henderson applied, not really expecting to get in. But he did.

Upon completing his master’s degree at The Columbia School of Journalism, Henderson will look into writing for a magazine or a newspaper. He may even want to teach at a high school or college one day.

Henderson advises students, “Try a lot of things and figure out what you’re interested in and what you’re good at and if you become good at something, brand yourself.” He continued, “Have an online presence and show you’re good at what you do and can be taken seriously.”

Scott Landis

Scott Landis, a native of Australia, moved to the United States in his early 20s and attended BYU-Idaho, where he graduated in communication focusing on organizational communication. Years earlier, Landis, a business management major, realized he wasn’t on the path he wanted to be on.

He began looking into other majors and found that communication offered more classes that were suited to what he was looking for. He didn’t view himself necessarily as a photographer, journalist or even Web designer, but liked that communication offered courses that pertained to real life, many within organizational communication.

Ultimately, Landis knew he liked the classes offered through communication and really liked the people side of it, but he couldn’t exactly put a finger on what he saw himself doing with a communication degree. He says that he experienced a “stupor of thought” (Doctrine & Covenants 9:9) through not being able to pinpoint what he wanted to do within communication and attributes that experience to leading him to where he needed to be, human resources.

Landis stresses that if you are on a path that it isn’t necessarily what you are looking for, there is a way to get it. “What do I enjoy doing, how can I tie that into the business world, and what courses can I take to help me get to that point?” Landis suggests to ask yourself.

Building and expanding skillsets is something Landis recommends. He said that once he found out what he wanted to do, he wished he would of gotten the experience within that field while still in school.

Landis had the opportunity to work in an HR department in Rexburg, but this position offered him would have meant giving up  management position at another organization, so he didn’t take it.

He says he wishes he would of taken a part-time job and made a little less money than what he was making in his management position at Broulims and then taken the HR job.

“Sometimes you just have to do something because it is going to pay off in the long run,” Landis said. “Short-term loss for a long-term gain.”

Landis says that employers look at the experience you have. He says that he, in particular, doesn’t necessarily chase a 4.0 GPA but seeks someone who is both book- and street smart.

He says that he is looking for a 3.5 person, not a someone who isn’t doing anything, but the someone who also has the social aspect of being smart.

On top of that, Landis says he wants someone who has a “can do” attitude. He stresses the importance of a person being able to assess what needs to be done, figuring out how to do it, then getting it done.

This “can do” attitude is what has carried Landis throughout his career, he said. He said that he is always going to look for the opportunity and fight for it. This led him to graduate school at Utah State University.

From there he joined the Rio Tinto global mining company, where he took an entry-level HR position. He was with that organization for a year and a half and then took a position with Pepsi, which offered him a job as a senior HR representative. He has since taken promotions with the company.

Landis said that in order to be recognized by Pepsi, he just worked hard. “If you say you are going to work hard, then do it,” said Landis, and that is what he has done.

Although he now holds a senior position at Pepsi, he says there is always more to learn.

He gives BYU-I students two pieces of advice: be real/be yourself and take advantage of BYU-Idaho.

“A lot of people are chameleons, but you have to be yourself,” he said. “Be genuine. Be a person that people can trust and rely on.”

Sarah Henderson

Sarah Jeppson Henderson knew early on her interests and did not waste any time gaining experience within them. She was born in New Mexico and entered BYU-Idaho in 2005.

Henderson was a member of DECA, a high school program associated with marketing, business management and administration, finance, hospitality and tourism. As a result of this experience, she was well aware of her interests, which included marketing and communication.

After her first year of college, she interned at an advertising agency, McKee Wallwork Cleveland in New Mexico. While working there, she got a feel for what she really wanted to do. “I thought I wanted to be a designer, but this internship helped me realize the client and business side was more up my alley,” said Henderson.

Her second semester of her junior year, Henderson completed another internship. This internship was located in New York and happens to be where she is currently working.

“Be pretty proactive and dive in so you are taking classes to prepare yourself for after,” said Henderson. She stresses the idea that as you do internships you will be better able to take classes suited for your interests and future.

“You can have cool internships and jobs, and multiple [internships and jobs] that will stand out, because people want experience...If you work in a couple jobs and industries you bring more knowledge to the table,” Henderson said.

She stresses that working in an internship is a good way to help you know what you want to do early in your education. “Get an internship in something you think you might be interested in,” said Henderson, even if you are not sure what you want to do.

Not only did Henderson do internships to add to her experience, but she also served a mission and did summer sales. She served in Chile where she learned Spanish. As a sales representative for Preventative Pest Control she signed over 175 contracts in three months.

She graduated in 2010 in communication with an emphasis in advertising and a focus in integrative marketing. Since college she has worked as an Account Executive at Riverbend Communication in Idaho Falls. There she helped clients meet marketing goals, wrote ads and oversaw production. She sold on-air radio, streaming, web, and social media events.

Henderson, as mentioned earlier, is currently in New York at Coltrin & Associates where she interned in 2008. She is now an Account Executive who works to “make [their] clients look good.”

Another piece of advice Henderson gives students is to learn how to sell yourself. She would like them to understand that it is okay to negotiate entry-level salaries, but that one must know how to do so.  “You can and should negotiate salary,” says Henderson. This has been beneficial to her and her husband in seeking new jobs.

Matt Maroon

Matthew Maroon, a communication graduate, was just like any other communication major; scared of statistics. This, however, didn’t stop him from accepting opportunities that involved data. Those opportunities have gotten him to where he is today.

During his time at BYU-Idaho, Maroon kept busy with his job in the registrar’s office. This job helped him acclimate into the professional world as he became skilled at working with everything from fax machines to email etiquette.

He was involved in his roommate’s student body campaign and a member of PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America). His PRSSA group earned an honorable mention in a competition for producing a campaign to help students understand the consequences of good and bad credit.

Maroon enjoyed the programs offered through the course work at BYU-Idaho, such as PRSSA. “It helped me look at things holistically and not just writing an article weekly but I was able to work on a project that required thought and analysis,” said Maroon.

 One of the courses that gave Maroon an upper-hand when applying for his internship at Nielson (TV Ratings) in New York, was a required research class. “I was a typical communication student, scared of statistics and anything that had a number in it,” Maroon said. He continued, “Stats aren’t as scary as they turn out to be.”

Having taken the research class from BYU-I, Maroon felt more familiar with statistical terminology. His senior year he applied for the internship at Nielson and got it. He left Rexburg and moved to New York.

Maroon’s internship consisted of combing through and analyzing data to find stories that the senior vice president of the company could use in his presentations. After doing this for four months, Maroon was offered a full-time job. “Half the battle now days is getting in the door of a company,” said Maroon. But his internship allowed him to do that.

He states that there are essentially three ways to get in the door of a company: an internship, a contracted role of some sort, or knowing someone in the company who can pass along your resume.

This is precisely how Maroon has gained his positions. As a result of his internship at Nielsen, he was offered a full-time job there. He was with them for seven years and during that time earned a graduate degree in media management.

Maroon applied several times to Microsoft but never heard back from them. It wasn’t until a few years later that one of Maroon’s acquaintances from Nielsen Company asked him if he would be interested in applying for a position at Microsoft.

He applied, and this time got the job with Microsoft. Maroon works directly with advertisers to sell them daily, weekly, or monthly ad space. “Making the move to Microsoft was huge for me,” Maroon said, “because it offered me the opportunity to grow.”

Maroon has worked with a lot of data in his career and advised students not to be afraid of it. “Ninety percent of communication roles have business aspects because they are selling something,” said Maroon.  He continued by saying that you can’t go anywhere without data being mentioned. Maroon feels lucky to have acquired the foundation he did because he now has a more analytical background, which he says will set one apart.

Dave Martinson

Dave Martinson was first introduced to the broadcast world in 2006. He was modeling for Columbia Ski Wear on a morning show in Portland. This is where he first saw behind the scenes of the newsroom. “I saw that it wasn’t a big room and that it could be easy to do,” Martinson said.

After this experience Martinson began college as a communication major. He switched, however, to political science with the intention of becoming an attorney, but later realized this was not the path for him.

He felt that being an attorney did not match his strengths as well as being on TV did. “With political science you become versed and are able to regurgitate information,” said Martinson. This didn’t appeal to him. So, after three years as a declared political science major, he switched back to communication.

Since his calendar year didn’t require an internship, he didn’t do one. “Do as I say, not as I do…I highly recommend an internship, especially if in TV so you know what it’s like. You need to prepare yourself,” said Martinson.

If news isn’t your interest, Martinson still highly stresses the importance of doing an internship in a field that does interest you. He says that he wished he would of had a feel for what the professional environment was like before he graduated. “Do multiple internships!” Martinson said.

Martinson was part of iNews, BYU-Idaho’s digital news program, where he won the Newel K. Whitney award honoring him for his academic performance. He was the president of the French Association at BYU-I and worked as an event coordinator. He was very involved and busy during his time at BYU-Idaho.

One of the classes that influenced him the most was Interpersonal Communication with Brother Eric Embree. “Listening is a struggle for me,” Martinson said, “But Brother Embree taught me a lot about listening and body language-both of which have helped me immensely in my career.”

Upon graduation Martinson began work at an explosive manufacturing plant where he was the French representative who dealt with mining and raw materials. From there, he went to work at a marketing firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. He remembers pondering as he looked out the window of this Scottsdale office, “Do I have the chops to make it in TV?” So although it wasn’t his intent to be on TV when he first graduated, it was something that was on his mind.

TV came naturally to Martinson. He had done a demo reel that showcased his television talents when he was in iNews. A news director went into Costco one day in Pocatello where a friend of Martinson’s was working. Conversation between these two men led to Martinson landing a job with Channel 6 in Pocatello.

Martinson was in charge of starting up a weekend show for the station, and for the first six months at Channel 6 this is what he did. He produced the entire weekend show. He would start the day at 9 p.m. in the morning. He would shoot and edit stories until around 5 p.m. then he would begin pulling national stories. At 10 p.m. the show would air.

Martinson would time the show down to the second using a clock on the desk. He didn’t have anyone to help guide and direct the timing of the show. “It wasn’t an easy task,” said Martinson but he did it every Saturday and Sunday for six months.

Now, Martinson works Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 2-10 p.m. Saturday is a come-and-go sort of day. He doesn’t need to time the show manually anymore. His days are filled with making phone calls, setting up interviews, and running around looking for stories.

Martinson wants people to know that there are jobs for communication majors.  He had been told that there were no jobs, but he stresses that there are. “Ignore how journalism is just a dead end because somebody is filling these spots, and that can be a BYU-Idaho student,” Martinson said.

Chris Hall

Chris Hall was born in Sacramento, CA. He has since lived in Boston, Rexburg, Salt Lake City, and San Jose, where he currently resides. His formal education began at Ricks College in 2000 and he was there during the transition to BYU-Idaho.

Hall graduated with a degree in Communication and an emphasis in Advertising, with a minor in Business Management. He was a part of the Student Communication Agency, which was the school’s public relations/ad agency.  He helped develop the organization’s first website. He also participated in Scroll as a web content editor.

Outside of school, he had the opportunity to work with KBYI, the local NPR affiliate, as a marketing manager. It was in this role that he gained an interest in digital media, web design and programming which included working with HTML.

Hall has always had an interest for technology. As he worked in newspaper, advertising, and radio he realized that technology was a unifying connection among them all.

“I wasn’t particularly interested in any of those facets of communication but I was interested in the technology that ran as a common thread between them,” he said.

The ability to be broad in the communication field is what drew Hall to it.

“It pays to be broad in skillset,” said Hall. “Get as much exposure to every line of communication as you can, and understand each aspect well because you’ll use different aspects of communication no matter what your job is.”

While attending BYU-Idaho, Hall became very interested in the fundamentals of web design. He began to be wrapped up in the coding and design of websites. “Many designers today are coming out of school knowing how to code, but at that time it helped set me apart from the competition,” said Hall.

“I believe that a comm. degree is a great degree for getting a job,” said Hall. Although, you might have to “go the extra” mile to learn things that are going to put you over the edge to make you a valuable employee.

He attended graduate school at Southern Utah University, where he earned a Master’s degree in digital media. After graduating, a friend from Rexburg needed help at eBay, which is where Hall currently works.

Hall leads the multi-screen design initiative at eBay, working closely with the tablet and mobile experience teams. His main goal is to unify the look, feel and interaction of eBay by providing common components and patterns.

Hall has had to adapt to this role at eBay. He comes from a product design background, and with his position at eBay, his focus is more global as he thinks about the user’s experience with the website. “It’s been a real learning experience,” said Hall.

Chad Phares

Chad Phares attended Ricks College for one year before his mission. When he returned from serving in Samara, Russia, Ricks had become BYU-Idaho. He was part of the first graduating class to earn more bachelor degrees than associate degrees.

Phares graduated in 2004 in communication with an emphasis in journalism. He said that when he graduated “print was still a thing.” Although “print” was still more prominent when he graduated, he was never really involved with just one medium.

“You have to understand how to use content to reach people in different channels,” said Phares and this is exactly what he has done throughout his career. He took his own advice when he said, “Keep learning.”

He worked as an intern writing and publishing news to the Web for the church magazines. When he finished his internship, a job position opened at the church. Although he was sure he would get the position, he didn’t because he didn’t have enough experience. This was tough for Phares but he persevered, gained experience, and kept learning.

From the time he left his internship, Phares became a newspaper writer and editor, and was Ogden City’s communications manager. While working in these jobs, he taught himself how to film and edit video. With these newly acquired skills, he made shows that were broadcast on local TV.

After gaining more experience, another job position opened up at the church. He was recommended to fill the position and this time he got it.

Returning to work for the church, Phares helped develop the website for Friend magazine. For the last two years, he has been part of the lds.org team. He is their digital publishing coordinator. His job consists of managing the home page of lds.org in 10 languages, running the church’s official Facebook and Twitter pages, and running the social accounts for the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.

Phares is responsible for helping improve the content the church produces by standardizing the work. He ensures what they are producing will reach people through the appropriate channels.

Phares attributes 90% of his success to his ability to work hard. He says, “I may not always be the smartest person but there are very few people I have ever met who out work me.” He then goes on to explain, “You can make up for a lack of experience by having a desire to work hard and employers can see that.”

Nine years ago Phares was an intern for the church. Now, he has “quite a bit of influence” on what the church produces because he has and continues to work hard.

He is always pushing to find new ways to do things and he encourages students to do the same because it allows for personal growth.

Bryce Greenwood

Bryce Greenwood, a native of Idaho, is a believer that a communication degree is an extremely versatile one. Greenwood graduated from BYU-Idaho in 2011 in communication with an emphasis in public relations and planned to enter the sales world.

He had known he wanted to work in sales but says he thought a communication degree would be the best because it is so versatile. “If you graduate with a teaching degree, you have to teach…but with a comm. degree there are lots of opportunities,” said Greenwood.

Greenwood began an internship with a PR firm in Salt Lake City but realized it wasn’t what he wanted to do. So instead, he took an internship with singer, Mindy Gledhill. He booked concert events, called sponsors, called radio stations, and sent emails.

This internship taught him not to be afraid of things he doesn’t know about. Speaking of this he said, “You will learn and stretch and need to get out of your comfort zone.” This is what he did as he worked for Mindy. Greenwood knew nothing about the music industry, but took on the position because he knew it would be a challenge for him.

During college Greenwood kept busy by participating in many intramural sports including flag football, basketball, and softball. He also worked full-time throughout his college career.

Although crammed with work and school, Greenwood wishes would have done even more. “Take every opportunity you are given, even if you are busy,” he said. This would have taken him out of his comfort zone and provided him with even more experiences.

After graduation Greenwood applied and got the position as Sales and Marketing Director at a senior living home in Utah where he sells living spaces. He was recently named Marketing and Sales Director of the year. He attributes a great part of his success to those who surround him.

He stresses the importance of surrounding yourself with a great team of people. “When you do this, their greatness rubs off on you,” Greenwood said. But he also recognizes that you might not always get to choose the people you’re surrounded by. To this he said, “…you can choose the kind of influence you have. People love to complain and whine which creates toxic work environments, but if you’re happy you can control the kind of affect you have on people.”

A happy attitude combined with a competitive and driven spirit, makes for a top candidate. “Out of college, they know you don’t know, but if you’re willing to learn, [are] eager, and enthusiastic they are going to train you,” Greenwood said.

He thinks the skills and experiences most beneficial for communication majors have to do with Internet marketing. “No matter what, this [internet marketing skills] will make you hirable,” said Greenwood.

Brian Passey

Brian Passey was born in Cedar City, Utah, and moved to Rexburg when he was five years old. He’d live there until he graduated from Ricks College as part of the last graduating class of the institution in the spring of 2001. There, Passey was the managing editor of Scroll when President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that Ricks would become a four-year college, BYU-Idaho.

A four-year degree in journalism, Passey’s major, was not offered at BYU-Idaho then, but that didn’t stunt his progress. He headed to Moscow, Idaho, to attend The University of Idaho, where he received a degree in communication with an emphasis in journalism. 

Passey began his college career as a photo major, but began to take journalism classes because he thought, “If I am going to be a photojournalist, what happens if I have to write a story if there isn’t a journalist there?”

As he took these classes he realized he wanted to focus on writing.

He liked the process of telling people’s stories, which writing allowed him to do. A big project for his basic journalism class at Ricks gave him this opportunity.

He found that there were 17 students who weren’t LDS but were attending Ricks College. He chose to write a story on these students to help capture why they would go there. He tells of a Muslim girl from Jordan. When her roommates were going to church, she was on her third prayer of faith for that day.

Passey said that as he wrote this and many other stories, he thought, “Maybe I’m going to make a change and switch to journalism.”

Throughout his years he gained experience in photojournalism and journalism through freelance work with the Rexburg Standard Journal, the Post Register in Idaho Falls, the Scroll, and through engagement photo-shoots. He was actively involved in Scroll at Ricks and the Society of Professional Journalists at the University of Idaho.  He held positions as editor and secretary.

After graduation from the University of Idaho, Passey was accepted (the first University of Idaho student to ever have been accepted) to Poynter Institute, which he describes as grad school in six weeks.  At Poynter Institute, Passey studied how to cover specifically race, religion and ethics within journalism as well as the purpose and craft of journalism.

Passey began to apply to different newspapers while at Poynter Institute and looked on journalismjob.com for available jobs. He took a job at The Spectrum in St. George, Utah, where he started as a political reporter. He later took a position with the same newspaper as their feature-story writer, where he remains today.

For an article he interviewed staffers from Big Brothers Big Sisters which is an organization that pairs children with adult role models with whom the children can build a relationship of trust and friendship.  As Passey asked them questions they began to ask him questions as well.

“If I am going to be reporting on the community, maybe I should be a part of it,” Passey said,  

He decided to volunteer with the organization and was matched as a big brother with a 7-year-old boy. Passey has been a mentor and friend to this boy since that day, nine years ago.

Two and a half years ago Passey was asked to be a member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters-Southern Utah Satellite Committee and recently became the chair. Last year he was the Big Brother of the Year for the state of Utah.

Outside of work, he spends much of his time helping Big Brothers Big Sisters. Passey said:

       This organization is a big part of my life now…[It] has given me the chance to help raise a child            and experience some of the things a real father experiences…My involvement with Big            Brothers Big sisters helps me show that I don’t just write about the community, I am apart of it.    

Ben Munson

Ben Munson, a native of Chihuahua, Mexico, grew up in the St. Louis area in an English-speaking home and environment. Though he spoke very little Spanish as a child, growing up his Spanish teachers always thought he spoke – or should speak – the language because of his birthplace.

Their expectations were not based in any real logic, but maybe those high demands are what pushed and steered him to "always seek for greater," he said. 

Munson started at Ricks College in 1998, but when he returned to Rexburg following his mission in Guatemala, the school had become BYU-Idaho.

At a very early age Munson was fascinated with newspapers and magazines. He remembers that when he was in the fourth and fifth grades, he sat at the kitchen table, read the news and copy-edited it.

“I was finding mistakes that professors and editors weren’t catching,” said Munson. He thought that was exciting and knew early on this was an area in which he could excel.

In high school, Munson gained a passion for the visual side of communication through photography and graphic design. He enrolled in journalism classes, which, he said, helped his passion for communication turn into “something real.”

At Ricks College and BYU-Idaho, Munson was a part of Scroll, where early in his college experience he applied for a scholarship – but didn’t get it.

“I felt like a high school athlete that didn't land any college offers or an outstanding college athlete who didn't get drafted,” said Munson, referring to his scholarship application not being accepted. He said it was a growth opportunity and that he learned quickly where his place was and what he needed to do better. By the time he left on his mission, he had jumped into the scholarship position he originally had his sights set on. 

That continued upon his return from his mission; over the course of several semesters, he worked as a sports writer, sports editor, copy staff member, copy editor, news writer, editor-in-chief, and a student advisor to less-experienced writers. He learned a lot through Scroll because it helped open his eyes to working in a professional business atmosphere.

An influential teaching moment for Munson, happened his freshman year of college. It was a cold Saturday morning during his first week on the Scroll staff. He was trying to adjust to the independence of college life, slept through his alarm, and was late for Scroll. He says that he felt like he let his staff down.

This experience taught him that it wasn’t all about him. Not being on time doesn’t just affect one person, but rather everyone. He viewed this as negative experience at the time because of pride, he said. He wishes he would have realized then “that you’re going to mess up sometimes, so just own up to it” and avoid further problems down the road.

Although he gained a lot of experience from working on the newspaper staff, Munson still did an internship one semester at the Rexburg Standard Journal. He said he wishes he would of done more with photography and design while in college but that he still is grateful for his experiences gained at BYU-Idaho.

He stressed the importance of strengthening one’s most prominent skill while diversifying oneself as well. To aid with this, he said that internships will help students really know what they want to do. “Some people might need to dig to find their skill set. It’s in there,” Munson said.

Munson is now at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo. There, he edits press releases, edits the work of three professional graphic designers, oversees the work of the eight-person public relations and marketing office, and produces some of his own work, which includes photographs, posters and newsletters. Outside of work, he and his wife, Becca, are a portrait photography team – co-owners of Photography by BenandBeccalee – and he participates regularly in sports and church activities.

Because Munson lives in a place where Mormons aren’t as prominent as in Idaho, he says that there are lots of opportunities that arise in conversation to talk about the Church. It's not a challenge but, rather, fun, he said. A co-worker recently asked him if there were any Mormons in the 2014 Olympics. He is able to use experiences like this to discuss the Church and direct his co-workers to the Mormon Newsroom.

When asked to hire, Munson said he looks for people who are fun, outgoing, well-rounded and who have a college degree. He talked about the need to have "the right degree to get to the table," but then letting the "intangibles start to take over when making a final decision." “You can’t hire someone based on any one particular trait. You're really looking at the entire pie and not just one piece,” said Munson.

He is still connected with professors at BYU-Idaho and contacts them if he hears of a position that opens in order to see if they know of anyone who would be a good candidate. “Being connected [in networks] is super important,” said Munson. “If I am ever to leave SCC and 'seek for greater,' I will land a job through the connections I've made. I think the same is true for most young grads."