Dr. Hutchens Feature (Professional Profiles)
Ever since he was a young child
growing up in Roanoke, Va., Dr. Jason Hutchens remembers drawing comics and
other drawings of his own and filling up entire notebooks with his own work.
This
artistic passion has carried over into Hutchens’s adult life as he continues to
draw paintings and other types of drawings in his free time when he is not
doing school related work. These “pet projects” has Hutchens calls them are
mostly done on weekends and breaks or whenever he finds free time to do them.
While
earning his undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech, he minored in art because it
was something he enjoyed doing.
“You
start sketching you forget about all the other responsibilities you have to
do,” Hutchens said, “it gets my mind of the other things.”
As
a Southern Pines resident, Hutchens has joined the Moore County Arts Council to
network with the local artists in his community. As part of his tenure service
with the University he has done his external service with the council as he
serves on the communication committee.
He has had some of
his digital and oil painting artwork shown at several places in Southern Pines
as well as several art festivals there as well.
Aside
from his painting and drawing in his free time, Hutchens also enjoys writing
short fiction novels. He has high hopes of one day seeing his work published
and put on the shelves of bookstores.
While working on
his doctorate at the University of Central Florida, Hutchens’s was part of an
Alternative Rock band called “Fall of Envy” as he was the percussionist for the
group. He said he left the group because he had to choose either his education
or playing in the band, and he felt like it was too much of a risk to stay with
the band and risk failing.
Fall
of Envy eventually opened for a few bands later on after Hutchens left. “I made
the right decision,” he said, “I was either going to have to put school on hold
and not finish my doctorate in order to follow this thing with the band, or
leave the band so I could finish up my doctorate.”
Hutchens
is now open to play with a band in the area but he has yet to find one that
fits his sort of playing style.
As
much as he enjoys his jobs and doing creative activities like art and writing,
Hutchens tries his best to keep them separate. “Sometimes when you blend work
into everything, it blends your hobbies into work,” he said.
In
the past few years, however, the assistant professor has had trouble to find
time to fit these activities in his schedule. Hutchens is currently working on
a documentary about the socio-economic status of Robeson County as well as
trying to reach his tenure with the University.
“When you’re going
through the tenure process there is not a lot of free time,” Hutchens said.
In
2009 Hutchens joined the UNCP mass communications department as he looked to
make the transition from practitioner to educator.
Hutchens said
there were a few key parts that came into play for his choosing to come to
UNCP. “One being that they have a broadcasting program and that’s my
specialty,” Hutchens said, “and the other being the proximity to Roanoke, Va.
(Father’s home).”
Overall Hutchens
has liked the student interaction and the flexibility of working with students
on a day-to-day basis. The flexibility with his job has allowed him to find
time for his projects that he takes part in during his free time.
Hutchens said his
parents are really the ones he credits to helping him succeed in life as his
father instilled a hard work ethic in him since he was a blue-collar worker.
This values still molds him as a person he says.
“I probably spend
more hours working than the average person and that largely has to do with my
upbringing,” Hutchens said.
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Kean Spivey Feature (Classmate Profile)
Kean Spivey sees
his future full of Art Galleries with paintings and art everywhere, but this is
not what the 21-year-old UNCP senior plans on doing in his free time. Spivey
wants this to be how he pays the bills in the future.
Since coming to
Pembroke, Spivey has changed his major multiple times and now Spivey has finally
found what he thinks is the right choice majoring in journalism, with a double
minor in media integration and art. Spivey said this has proved to be a
defining moment in his life.
He decided on
journalism mainly because he feels it mixes parts of public relations and art.
Spivey also chose media integration as a minor because he finds the digital
arts quite interesting.
“I like looking at
the screen and playing with the programs,” Spivey stated, “you never know what
you can get.”
Much like his
major, Spivey has moved around a lot since being born in Toronto, Canada. He
has lived in multiple places in southeastern North Carolina in places like
Laurinburg, Wagram, Lumberton and now currently residing in Pembroke. Although
having to change residences multiple times, Spivey has only had to change
schools once in middle school.
With a degree in
journalism, he looks to focus more closely on the photography aspect. Spivey is
currently a staff writer and a photographer for The Pine Needle student
newspaper on campus where he has found a lot of skills that he feels will be
useful as he graduates in May.
One part of
photography that Spivey enjoys is the fact how you can see regular objects in a
different view just by looking through the lens of a camera. “I like capturing
moments in interesting ways,” he said.
Spivey aspires to
be part of the media or entertainment industry, “I feel it will be a rewarding
experience.”
One of the biggest
influences in his life is his father who is a professor in the sociology
department. “He’s gone through a lot to get where he is now,” Spivey stated, “I
just want to be as successful as him and make him proud.”
In his free time,
Spivey enjoys doing the same things that most college students do like hanging
out with friends and listening to music. One thing that is different is his
willingness to work hard on art projects in his free time as well. This sign of
dedication shows how important art is in his eyes. With this much commitment,
Spivey seems to set to follow what he loves in life.
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Hector Miray Feature (Pembroke Day)
After being named
assistant pastor at Berea Baptist Church in 2010, Hector Miray has used his
fun-loving mentality to minister to college students in ways different than
most churches.
Miray remembers
the moment he was called into the ministry when he was 17-years-old. He was
attending a Christian concert at Kings Dominion when the drummer for a
Christian band called the Supertones, Jason Carson, came up on stage and said:
“Stop playing around. If you are gonna live for God, be serious about it. Just
do it now.”
Since that moment,
Miray has felt a special calling in his ministry to connect with the youth.
“I knew right at
the end of high school I was going into the ministry,” Miray said, “I figured
it would be children’s ministry.”
In 2001, Miray
began his ministry as a children’s missionary at Camp Grace in nearby Fairmont,
N.C. Miray worked there until his hiring at Berea.
Miray began his
work with Berea in 2005 as he joined the college outreach program as a
volunteer. When Miray was first offered the position he felt like he would
never take it but after a year of weighing the options, he took the job. Since
that time he has only missed one of the weekly “college nights” that he leads
every Thursday night at the church.
“Working with
college students and youth felt like if I wasn’t helping out with that, I was
missing out,” Miray said.
Miray has a
personality of most college students as he said he likes to do anything that is
“adventurous and stupid.” This is one of the main ways that Miray likes to
connect with his college audience.
Oftentimes, Miray
will extend offers to do some of his adventurous activities to the college
students. He has led groups to do activities like a 5K extreme obstacle course,
playing paintball, bouncing in a room with a trampoline floor and walls or
hiking. Miray stated that hiking is something he really enjoys doing and plans
on hiking the Grand Canyon in the near future.
Miray said he also
includes the college group in what he does is because he wants them to enjoy
the experiences that he didn’t necessarily get to do as a youth.
When he is not
going on adventurous outing or working at the church, Miray likes to read and
spend time with his wife and two daughters. His reading choices are usually
comics or books but he also said “I’m a fan of anything with a good story.”
Miray also enjoys
playing video games and watching movies on Netflix. Many of these activities do
sound like what college aged students enjoy doing.
Through these
activities, Miray is able to find some connection with what the group is
experiencing to the Bible and how it can better their life in the long run.
Despite all the
adventures and the good times he has led college students on, Miray said his
most enjoyable part of being in the ministry and working with college students
is “watching people actually make good choices.”
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