Your Gifts at Work

Jose Zamora, B.S. Computer Engineering Technology, ’12, didn’t plan on graduating from the University of Houston. Born and raised in McAllen, Texas, Zamora saw Houston’s university as simply a starting point from which he would transfer to another university. “UH’s Tier One education program grew on me more and more. I fell in love with all the growth happening right before my eyes.” By the end of his first year at UH, Zamora decided he was already at his future alma mater. “Ultimately, the University of Houston is located in a great city that I knew I would eventually call home. It would only make sense for me to engrave myself into this opportunity.”

Zamora was intrigued by the breadth and depth of the College of Technology curricula. As a computer engineering technology major, he studied theory even as he learned hardware configurations and the software programs that make the hardware function. While still a student he jumped at the opportunity to intern at MCA Communications, a communications technology integration company, where he is a project engineer today. “UH taught me that in order to achieve your goals you have to understand what you want, make a plan and then simply, take massive action to get what you want.”

Today Zamora is designing another plan – one that embraces his childhood home of McAllen. “I believe we live in a society where not many young people are given the opportunity or encouragement to go out and get what they want,” he says. “My dream is to help young people in McAllen, show them that no matter what they are going through or have been through, it is ultimately our obligation to own our lives and make our dreams reality.”

For Zamora, the UH experience also taught him a life lesson that applies inside and outside the workplace. “Everything you put your name on or your stamp on is a representation of who you are and will either make you or break you.”

Britt Ragsdale (M.F.A. ’11) is a visual artist living and working in Houston whose media of expression includes photography, video, installation and performance. Born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, she completed her undergraduate work at Lamar University before earning her master’s in Photography/Digital Media at the University of Houston.

“I actually began my college career thinking I would be a photo journalist,” she recalls. “Oddly, everyone around me knew I would be an artist before I did.” Ragsdale’s conceptual, out-of-the-box creations have been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Gallery 1724, Lawndale Arts Center, PG Contemporary and Blaffer Art Museum among other venues. Her most recent video exhibition, Playback, was unveiled at Fresh Arts gallery in 2013 and focused on what Ragsdale herself writes is “the social anthropology and psychoanalysis of pretense. False presentations are deeply rooted in social behavior.” In Playback’s intense presentation of frozen moments and repeated gestures from classic movies, the viewer discovers truth beneath the artifice.

In a series of Playback videos titled “Duets,” actual couples assumed pre-arranged poses derived from romantic film scenes. Each couple froze in a single affectionate pose for as long as possible, allowing the viewer to watch the encroaching awkwardness, and the subtle and then more obvious struggle to maintain appearances even as stereotypical “romance” dissolved.

Ragsdale used real couples in Duets, who told her, “Wow, this is hard.” She explains, “The message is we’re not supposed to fit into the look. We are all unique and that was inspired by my own relationship. I’m not saying my guy isn’t great, but he’s not the idea of the perfect man I began with. It takes stepping out of pre-set ideas about what’s right for you.”

Ragsdale’s fascination with human pretense, as we change ourselves to “fit in,” began in childhood. “Growing up in southeast Texas, I participated in pageants, did the debutante thing and drill team – all activities in which you are on display,” she says. “I’m a very introverted person. I became aware at a very young age of all that pomp and superficiality. I started exploring the idea of faking it by adults, by my peers and it made me turn to myself. I think it’s a natural human response to stretch outside ourselves to attract a person or be around a group we want.”

Ragsdale, a 2012 Houston Arts Alliance Individual Grant recipient and 2011 winner of The Big Show CultureMap People’s Choice Award, also received a Presidential Graduate Fellowship and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fellowship during her master’s degree work at UH. “In the UH art department, I was encouraged to explore my own path, which included working with musicians and writers. That was highly beneficial to me. I never felt I was stuck on just one program.” Ragsdale chose UH for many reasons, but driving the decision was her love for Houston. “Unlike New York or Los Angeles, there’s not the same sense of competition here. Every artist wants to help other artists in a vibrant, growing arts city.”

To learn more about Alumna Britt Ragsdale, go to brittragsdale.com.

Britt Ragsdale (M.F.A. ’11) is a visual artist living and working in Houston whose media of expression includes photography, video, installation and performance. Born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, she completed her undergraduate work at Lamar University before earning her master’s in Photography/Digital Media at the University of Houston.

“I actually began my college career thinking I would be a photo journalist,” she recalls. “Oddly, everyone around me knew I would be an artist before I did.” Ragsdale’s conceptual, out-of-the-box creations have been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Gallery 1724, Lawndale Arts Center, PG Contemporary and Blaffer Art Museum among other venues. Her most recent video exhibition, Playback, was unveiled at Fresh Arts gallery and focused on what Ragsdale herself writes is “the social anthropology and psychoanalysis of pretense. False presentations are deeply rooted in social behavior.” In Playback’s intense presentation of frozen moments and repeated gestures from classic movies, the viewer discovers truth beneath the artifice.

In a series of Playback videos titled “Duets,” actual couples assumed pre-arranged poses derived from romantic film scenes. Each couple froze in a single affectionate pose for as long as possible, allowing the viewer to watch the encroaching awkwardness, and the subtle and then more obvious struggle to maintain appearances even as stereotypical “romance” dissolved.

Ragsdale used real couples in Duets, who told her, “Wow, this is hard.” She explains, “The message is we’re not supposed to fit into the look. We are all unique and that was inspired by my own relationship. I’m not saying my guy isn’t great, but he’s not the idea of the perfect man I began with. It takes stepping out of pre-set ideas about what’s right for you.”

Ragsdale’s fascination with human pretense, as we change ourselves to “fit in,” began in childhood. “Growing up in southeast Texas, I participated in pageants, did the debutante thing and drill team – all activities in which you are on display,” she says. “I’m a very introverted person. I became aware at a very young age of all that pomp and superficiality. I started exploring the idea of faking it by adults, by my peers and it made me turn to myself. I think it’s a natural human response to stretch outside ourselves to attract a person or be around a group we want.”

Ragsdale, a 2012 Houston Arts Alliance Individual Grant recipient and 2011 winner of The Big Show CultureMap People’s Choice Award, also received a Presidential Graduate Fellowship and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fellowship during her master’s degree work at UH. “In the UH art department, I was encouraged to explore my own path, which included working with musicians and writers. That was highly beneficial to me. I never felt I was stuck on just one program.” Ragsdale chose UH for many reasons, but driving the decision was her love for Houston. “Unlike New York or Los Angeles, there’s not the same sense of competition here. Every artist wants to help other artists in a vibrant, growing arts city.”

To learn more about Alumna Britt Ragsdale, go to brittragsdale.com

Catrina Kim, a University of Houston Honors College graduate, credits the college’s Human Situation course with shaping her academic career. “The Human Situation courses were by far the most important, exciting and personally challenging classes I took as an undergraduate. It’s because of Human Situation that I added the Honors minor, Phronesis, and wrote a senior Honors Thesis on political philosophy.”

Catrina, who graduated UH with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance in May 2013, grew up in a Chicago suburb as one of four daughters. Her older sister is completing the second year of medical school while the next youngest sister plans to follow in Catrina’s footsteps and attend UH next year as a Creative Writing and Linguistics double major. The youngest sister is in high school “still figuring it all out!” Catrina feels she and her siblings were very fortunate to have parents who supported each daughter’s abilities and passions, with one stipulation: pursue your dream with discipline and hard work. Catrina’s love of music was deepened and honed on her instrument of choice: the piano. She sent her audition tape and application to UH’s Moores School of Music, ranked nationally as a leading music college by World Ranking Guide.

“I received a letter in response inviting me to apply to the Honors College. I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but I was intrigued by The Human Situation and attracted by the promise of smaller class sizes,” she says. Her decision to attend UH came to a crescendo when she discovered the scholarship opportunities. Although she was already a recipient of the National Merit Scholarship, that award did not cover all her living expenses. Through the Honors College, she received the Jane Cizik Scholarship and the University Community Scholarship, allowing her to pursue a stellar academic career. During her undergraduate years, Catrina performed three piano recitals, completed an Honors minor and Senior Honors Thesis, secured a UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and presented an original paper at a professional conference for music theory scholarship.

“It is because of generous UH alumni that I have been able to focus 100% on my academic goals,” she says. “Honors College scholarships have been critical to my success.”

Today, Catrina Kim is in the combined M.A. /Ph.D. program in Music Theory at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. She has been awarded the University of Rochester’s prestigious Sproull Fellowship, which will fund her studies for the next five years.

“I plan to give back to the Honors College, so that it can award scholarship assistance to deserving students,” she explains. “It is my obligation now to help the next generation of talented students.”

By day, they are business owners, CPAs, marketing and energy managers, and controllers across Houston. By night and on weekends, they are the creators and driving force behind the University of Houston Art Car Parade Ford van, officially known as the “Super Cougar GT SS 500 Unlimited Limited Edition.” What’s that spell? Cougar Alumni Pride.

“The best part was buying the van,” says Jarrett Henderson (BBA 2006, MBA, 2012). “There were about 12 of us looking to provide a serious upgrade to our tailgating during the 2012 UH football season. The best part has been seeing our tailgate and UH season ticket crew grow from just three of us back in 2003 to the group we have today.”

Houston native Seth Showalter, who is not a UH alum but is an “adopted” Cougar, puts the story in gear.

“Most of my friends are UH alumni, so we got together and thought about the best way to improve the tailgate parties that we religiously host before the UH games. We found a 1999 van on Craigslist in Kemah, and a few hours later we were back home with a $1,000 investment in the best tailgating football season ever!”

The crew revamped the van with an A-Team inspired custom paint job, laid astro turf across the rear interior and installed a Snap-on kegerator donated by Mike Green, UH alum and owner of a Snap-on Tool franchise. Ryan Wehmeyer (BBA, 2004) hopes a future upgrade will include a tap pull that growls like a cougar every time a beer is poured.

After the final season in Robertson Stadium, Seth Showalter entered the Super Cougar van in the Art Car Parade in May 2013.

“I mostly love what the van stands for – friendship, teamwork, camaraderie and great times,” he says. “It was a natural for the parade.”

The Super Cougar does not have a sponsor, and the group is open to one. The friends have covered the costs of transforming the UH van out of their own pockets, and they have dreams for the future.

“A spoiler, a PA system, a swing out grill,” lists Kris Kehlenbach, (BBA, 2010, MBA, 2012). “It’s an ever-evolving project that lacks no imagination.”

Cougar pride runs deep throughout the crew.

“My grandfather was an active alum, and every time we drive this van on the streets of the UH campus, I know we make him proud,” says Wehmeyer.

That pride is being passed on to the next generation. Mike Green, who attended UH for two years before he became a single dad, agrees. “My son is now 12 and he dreams of playing basketball for UH.”

Richie Baskharone (BBA, 2005) sums it up. “Great campus, great university; it’s on the rise.”