Currently, Amara is furthering her involvement as president of one of UNT’s professional business fraternities, Delta Sigma Pi. She finds that this outstanding position provides valuable experience in conflict management and recruitment, as well as allowing her to bolster her leadership skills for a full-time career.

Amara has also completed an internship in Fort Worth working for Bell, a helicopter company. She found herself immersed within Bell’s culture and HR department, and is proud to have made an significant impact on the company as a whole through her launch of a social media page called @WeAreBell, which highlighted Bell’s employees, events, and opportunities. Additionally, Amara introduced new methods to bolster recruitment for the company through campaigns and partnerships with former interns. These accomplishments awarded Amara with both an extended internship and a full-time job offer at Bell, which she will begin in the Spring of 2022.

Looking to the future, Amara expresses a desire to stay in the recruitment marketing and university relations fields for a few years, before potentially moving on to business partnership roles. She plans to eventually enter a more generalized role where she can help people on an individual level-- specifically as a VP of HR at a tech company. As a member of SHRM, Amara finds that, although she personally found more resources from Delta Sigma Pi, SHRM helped integrate her into the OBHR major after COVID saw a move to online courses.

Amara encourages future HR students to join an organization, stressing that the skills learned and acknowledgement of one's own strengths and weaknesses are the starting point for growth. She also advises students to actively seek out learning experiences and challenges, whether from mentors, professionals, team members, or friends.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/amarabeussman/

​​​​​​​Jillian Enderby

Jillian Enderby is well acquainted with small-town Texas, having grown up in Gainesville and Callisburg while cultivating a deep-seated love for Denton. She pursued an HR major due to her desire to be part of a meaningful industry, and strives to bring a positive outlook to organizations. While studying in the HR program, she reflected on the critical duality of recognizing the individual in a company alongside the team. Jillian also expresses appreciation for her work focused on motivation, leadership, and organizational design.

As an inductee of the President’s List, Jillian is proud of her consistent 4.0 GPA throughout her college career, and aims to maintain this strong work ethic in graduate school. Beyond academics, she has interned at Core Professional Services, citing her experience as one filled with lessons on the importance of communication. Jillian was given valuable insight into recruitment, compliance, and employee benefits, as well as the legal aspects of HR concerned with staying updated with relevant laws in order to best benefit the company and employees.

Jillian joined SHRM in her second semester and was soon after nominated for the position of Director of Student Relations. In her final undergraduate year, she supported SHRM through recruitment and consociating with current members, stating that her time and duties there helped to cultivate interpersonal relationships and bolster her networking abilities. Jillian strengthened these skills by attending workshops and biweekly guest speeches. As an officer, she worked to build proficiency in leadership, knowing that these skills would prepare her for the HR industry.

Jillian advises future students to pay close attention to their coursework with a definite intention to take away knowledge, regardless if the class directly aligns with their exact field or interest. She finds that taking the opportunity to learn from such courses is essential to making the most out of a college experience. Jillian also urges HR students to join UNT SHRM early on in order to take advantage of the countless benefits and opportunities.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-enderby/

Kara Hernandez

Kara Hernandez hails from Dallas, TX, having also lived in Tennessee and Hawaii before coming to UNT. Although Kara originally majored in Finance, she realized that a proficiency in math was not enough for her to actively enjoy her studies. As she’d already been accustomed to several introductory courses offered by the G. Brint College of Business, a transition into HR seemed to be the natural choice.

The HR program offered Kara insight into compensation, benefits, and workplace safety, and she found that some of the most important lessons detailed personal advocacy and leadership in the workplace. Some of Kara’s greatest academic accomplishments showcase her dedication to the HR field, such as her selection as the Director of Chapter Information Systems for SHRM and her placement on the President's List in 2020.

Aside from these achievements, Kara has interned at Whitley Penn, a well-established public accounting firm. During her time there, she took on a generalist role and gained crucial insight into onboarding, benefits, and recruiting, the latter of which she discovered to be her career passion. After graduation, Kara aspires to be a corporate recruiter before eventually advancing to Director of Recruitment.

Over the past couple of years, Kara has demonstrated commitment to advancement in the HR field. As previously mentioned, she was appointed as SHRM’s Director of Chapter Information Systems in 2022, having joined as a regular member the year prior. Kara finds that her time in this community has helped to broaden her network and hone her professional skills. She urges future HR students to stay connected with internships and clubs like SHRM, which are invaluable experiences and help students to discover, cultivate, and advance their career paths. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karahernandez-hr/

Samuel Macaraeg

Samuel Macaraeg is from Lake Jackson, Texas, originally intending to pursue ministry there before his commitment to an HR degree at UNT. This major was a strategic choice– in the future, Samuel plans to use the business practices incorporated in HR coursework to help him smoothly run church-based organizations. While in the program, he also learned about professional self-development, and although he recognizes the need to consistently adapt and learn later on in his career, the groundwork for success stems from his ongoing ability to identify and strengthen his weaknesses.

In the summer of 2021, Samuel worked at Mavenir as an HR intern. There, he learned about the essentiality of adapting to different management styles and a healthy work-life balance, as he had previously never worked a typical 40-hour desk job.

Later that fall, Samuel received a $2,000 Drew Young scholarship from the HRSouthwest Conference, a prestigious gathering of HR professionals. He was also granted free admission to the conference, recognized for his academic and professional accomplishments, and introduced to a multitude of networking opportunities. Samuel plans to use these experiences to support his plan to become a missionary for the Catholic church and develop a consulting company to reinforce organizational structure.

Currently, Samuel is SHRM’s Director of Corporate Relations. His position mainly covers the creation of semester-long calendars and outsourcing HR professionals to speak at SHRM meetings. Samuel find that these duties have bolstered his professional communication and planning skills, and is confident in their practicability within the industry. He recommends that HR students actively listen to their professors’ career advice, participate in professional organizations, and pursue networking opportunities with current HR specialists as they are best equipped to help you along your occupational path.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-macaraeg/

Stephanie Villarreal

Stephanie Villarreal came to UNT from Garland, Texas, just southeast of Denton. She felt driven to make a difference in the HR community, recognizing that equal opportunity is one the best factors to a safe, success-driven climate for employees. Stephanie finds that, although HR can be complex, she is eager to pursue a career within the field so she can advocate for employee recognition, protection policies, and a motivating environment.

In her experience, the HR program has offered an informative look into the many aspects of business, including budgeting, staffing, employee morale, and diversity in the workplace. Stephanie gained insight into the inner workings of these duties and recounts it as a great opportunity. As she was learning in this environment, she was also achieving academic success with her Dean’s List placement as well as her appointed role as President of SHRM. With this position specifically, Stephanie gained a multitude of professional skills that she intends to apply to her future career. 

This summer, Stephanie completed her first internship at Cates Control Systems working one-on-one with Jennie Kunze, the company’s only HR Director. During her time there, she learned about recruiting, payroll, and employee relations, also helping to create a new employee handbook and transfer the company's files into Paylocity, an HR system. Stephanie found her work with Ms. Kunze to be a great experience and is looking forward to securing a similar position where she can continue to learn. She plans to support her career aspirations by furthering her involvement in management and HR. Although she doesn’t currently have a specific plan for her future, she aspires to be an HR Director of a company related to one of her hobbies. Overall, Stephanie intends to gain experience in whatever field she chooses and remain open to opportunities as they come.

SHRM has helped to support this initiative– Stephanie has been affiliated with the community for 2.5 years and recognizes the individual and professional growth she has gleaned during her time there. She advanced through her roles quickly, beginning as a member before her election as Director of Communications in 2019. While in this position, Stephanie was a liaison between their executive board and advisors and the entire student chapter. The plentitude of written communication– including social media updates and newsletter production– strengthened her professional writing skills, while additional leadership responsibilities aided with public speaking and preparation for her current role as President.

Stephanie finds that her involvement in SHRM has prepared her for the industry and provided strategies for professional advancement. She highly advises students to do uncomfortable tasks like networking, seeking out leadership positions, and applying to internships, as exposure will help them to secure more experience for post-graduation opportunities. Stephanie views her SHRM advisors as invaluable, helpful mentors, and encourages students to find one, ask questions, and build confidence through active involvement.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-villarreal24/

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