Undergrads Swaggin at SWAAG!

Hannah Gautsche, UNT Geography Graduate, Fall 2011

First and foremost, I’d like to thank Lisa (Dr. Nagaoka) for inviting myself and others to the Southwest Association of American Geographers (SWAAG) conference in Austin.  Before we left she asked me if I wanted to submit a blog entry about perceptions of SWAAG for the undergraduates who went, what we thought we would get out of it, and then what we actually got out of it.  The experience was incredible.  Geography consists of such an amazing and special group of people, and my last semester at UNT could have not ended in a better way.  Upon our arrival back to Denton, I emailed Allyssa Sobey, Matthew Hendrix, Jeremy Dunn, Sarah McCrorey, and Meagan Hatton asking them what they thought about SWAAG.  Here is the consensus: 

Why we wanted to go:  We wanted to go the conference to get a general idea of what Geographers are researching and to explore our own interests further.  We also wanted to network with other students and professors to expand our knowledge about Geography.  

What we got out of it:  We definitely didn’t expect the conference to be as small as it was, but we are thankful that it was because it allowed us to fully engage in the presentations.  We enjoyed being able to choose the presentations that interested us, which allowed us to better understand how research in Geography develops and is applied.   After attending the conference, we realized how much we love our major and how we love to be part of such a field that relies on multi-disciplinary approaches.  In addition, we felt closer to the UNT faculty; it was heartwarming to be able to converse with our professors on a level that wasn’t necessarily student-teacher related. 

Favorite memories:  Our favorite memories include attending UNT faculty and student presentations of their research and relaxing with everyone over a few beers after a long day of Geography presentations.

In sum, we recommend that other Geography students at UNT go to SWAAG.

Addendum from Dr. Nagaoka - UNT had the largest contingent at SWAAG this year with at least 30 faculty and students, 10 of whom were undergrads.  In addition, two of our undergrads, Chloe Thomas and Cody Brule, won 2nd place in the poster competition (comprised mostly of grad students) for the bike occupancy project research that began in GEOG 2110.   Next year's SWAAG conference is in Las Cruces, NM in October (road trip!).   Hope you can join us!

My life as a Geographer always and forever!

Jennifer O'Reilly (formerly Schwarz), GIS Specialist, Percheron Acquisitions, LLC. B.S. UNT Geography, 2005

I would say that I was meant to be a geographer. I did not always see this though. I started my UNT career as an Art major. After one semester I soon found out that this was not the path in life for me. So I started to brainstorm and to survey my surroundings. And finally what drew me to the Geography department was the ESSAT building. No joke!  I love nature and science. The building just fascinated me and I soon found myself in the Geography department picking out my classes for the next 4 years. I never really gravitated towards one side of Geography but I did however find my niche when I started working with ArcGIS. My first class was with Dr. Bruce Hunter in Intro to GIS. This class changed my life; I finally felt like I understood something! Maybe it was the program or maybe it was the way Bruce taught. Or maybe it was both! All in all, school finally started clicking for me. I finally started making all A’s and this also translated to my other core classes as well. Wow what a difference one class can make! I knew this was where I was meant to be and I have never looked back.

If I had to give someone a word of advice about Geography, it is that there are always jobs out there for you. I have held GIS jobs for over 6 years now. They have ranged from County to City and now to Land Surveying for an Oil and Gas company. They have all been wonderful jobs and there is so much to learn and do with Geography.  

"So, where is Tajikistan?"

Aldo Aviña
BS UNT Geography 2008, MS UNT Biology 2010

If you’re like me… you probably don’t think about your mornings because you sleep in until the last possible moment. Instead of a hot cup of coffee and perhaps some frozen waffles, you are left to snack on that crumbling Pop Tart carefully guarded by your textbooks at the bottom of your backpack during 3190 or Graduate Seminar.  If you’re like me, and similar to Sarah’s blog post, you have had to field questions like “So where is Tajikistan?” or “So what is the capital of Tajikistan?” or “So what country is next to Tajikistan?” I don’t understand what the infatuation with Tajikistan is either, but you are patient and explain that a Geography major is like an English major – there are many concentrations and applications that go beyond simple trivia found on an old rerun of Jeopardy!

If you’re like me, you want to increase your spatial awareness and that’s why you are here.

I’d like to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about my time at UNT and how it developed me as a student and professional. I don’t mean for it to serve as a guide—you all have your own story—but rather as a way to relate to you.

The story... First, I’ll give you some perspective as to where UNT Geography has gotten me:  I am currently a second-year PhD student at the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth studying Environmental Health Science, less than two years away from finishing. For those interested in a doctoral degree: I want to use this degree to work in public health at the state or federal level; I want this degree in order to put me in a position to positively influence the health of a large number of people. This degree is not for my personal benefit or desire, nor is it a proof of accomplishment to myself. Rather, it represents a set of tools and experiences that allows me to achieve a public health career and to perform duties efficiently and effectively.

My entry into UNT was strange and complicated. I never thought about attending college until my senior year of high school, when I knew music would be the greatest thing. In the summer of 2004, I was in the process of a third audition for the music program at UT and had already been accepted to the music program at Texas State. Additionally, I had submitted my written intent to attend the music program at Texas State. This entire time I had already been rejected from the UNT music program – during the audition.

That left me with two choices, right? Technically yes, but I chose UNT. Why? There is no “why.” A decision I do not regret, I weighed the option of doing music as a career or using a connection at UNT to network and discover what I really wanted to do. So, by fall of 2004, I was a wide-eyed math major 226 miles from home in Denton, Texas sharing a 10x10 foot space in a friend’s garage. “Aldo the Math Major”. I didn’t like the sound of it either. My haphazard and blissful approach to college led to a difficult and disinterested first year. With the guidance of the McNair Scholars program and Dr. Bruce Hunter and Dr. Miguel Acevedo, however, I was introduced to the world of Geography. I won’t dwell on this because you know why you like Geography and you remember that moment of realization, but I had finally found the direction I was looking for. I hadn’t found my niche, however. Not yet.

My niche was discovered later, through undergraduate research and networking. The McNair Scholars program helps those who are underprivileged or underrepresented (but who have the desire to do research) by matching them with a mentor. The mentor is given the task of teaching the undergraduate student research skills in their field and of preparing them for post-baccalaureate life. I was conditionally accepted and matched with Dr. Acevedo, provided that I improved my grades. Through my work with Dr. Acevedo fighting the brush to track woodpeckers and watching bison, hawks, deer and coyote at the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area, I met Bruce (Dr. Hunter) and Dr. Oppong.

In short, Bruce introduced me to the world of GIS and Dr. Oppong introduced me to the world of Medical and Health Geography; I decided to think about both as a unit. This can be translated to any field with a geographic application: Ecology, Geology, Genetics, Sociology, Ornithology, the list goes on.

But did I want to be a “GIS-er”? Not necessarily. I knew that I didn’t want to work as a contractor editing fire hydrant databases or in some similar setting. It just isn’t my thing. I wanted to be able to manage spatially-referenced data effectively and correctly. Which brings me to my next point: do you want a career in the world of geographic information science, or do you want to use GISci as a supplement to your career? I have seen many colleagues take these two main routes, and it is something I suggest you think about now. Do you want to be a GIS-er or do you want to use GIS as a tool? Neither is wrong. It depends on your skills, interests and expertise.

I chose to use it as a tool to apply geo-analytical methods to spatially-referenced health data. Through this route I am able to look at the geography of environmental exposures and hazards and how it affects health outcomes.

…And that’s my story.

Moral of the story?  What I would like you, the UNT Geography student, to get out of my journey is that your future depends on you and your actions. My ship was righted after a rocky start, with a strong influence from Bruce and my research mentors. It was not their responsibility, however, to improve my grades, receive that GIS certificate, or publish my thesis – and I will always appreciate that. It is not to say they didn’t help me succeed but rather that they taught me how to be successful.

Yes, but what can I do?  Network, you must. Talk to your peers and look for a research mentor if you are an undergraduate. Developing a healthy, professional relationship with a mentor will beget future success. Think about what you want to become both in terms of a career, as well as your use of GISci in your career.  As you are writing your thesis, think about where to publish. If you can withstand the word “no” then you can withstand the publishing process. Further, once you are published, you become a more desirable job or graduate candidate. Also, you don’t have to publish alone.  As you are working on your research, go to conferences! After you’ve gone to SWAAG or done a poster presentation, move up to an international conference and an oral presentation.

Additionally, start looking for graduate programs now, and network with professors there too! It’s not difficult. You can Google the chair of any geography department with one hand. University departments list their faculty and their research papers. Don’t forget to update that CV.  My point is you have to take the initiative. Think about your future. Talk to a professor if you’re confused, if you need help or if you are ready to begin. Introduce yourself at the beginning of every semester. Who knows, that introduction may land you a director position at the CDC a few years down the line.

Geography: Not Just for Geographers

Susannah Gulick, UNT BS in Geography 2010
Project Manager at M/A/R/C Research

I did not go into Geography to become a teacher, which is ironic because the desire to teach is what set me on the path to pursue a college degree.  I am not sure who becomes a geography teacher anymore, but I do not think it’s the geography major.  Why study Geography then?  The reason for me was simple; Dr. Hudak made a great first impression, the program offered things I wanted to know, and there is the opportunity to wear comfortable shoes (geographers do not wear high heels).  If you are going to put all the time, money, and effort into something it should be what you are interested in; what could be more interesting than interactions with the world around you?!

Unlikely in the making, when I became a geography major I had never taken a geography class; I could hardly read a map, I had trouble with east and west, and had been known to get my left and right confused a bit more often than your average five-year-old.  However, one day I decided to jump in with both feet. 

My sudden interest in Geography was prompted by a somewhat unpleasant conversation with my College of Education advisor, during which I discovered I was no closer to graduating than when I had started because of changes they had made to the degree plan.  I could not bear the idea of pouring endless amounts of money into a degree that did nothing but make me crazy. 

After trying in vain to convince my husband I wasn’t crazy, I declared myself a geography major and never looked back.  From the minute I walked up to the Environmental Science Building, I was hooked.  For years while I worked on my degree my husband continued to think I was crazy; who would hire a geographer, what would I do when I got out of school, would I be “forced” to become a graduate student because I couldn’t find a job?  I am sure students in all disciplines have these same fears and conversations with their supporting loved ones. As time would tell, my fears were for naught; my geography degree has served me very well. I walked into a great job within weeks of graduation. 

I would not have been considered for the position I received without the strong public-speaking skills I developed giving class presentations, or without a firm grasp of quantitative methods.  I loved my classes, and if given the time would have taken every course on the menu.  That said, I loved the quantitative methods and capstone classes most.  I will continue to draw on skills acquired in these classes when I am able return to geography as a graduate student. The classes are designed to push you beyond your limits; they force you to work, rely on, and learn from others. That is not something you will get out of an online program or from a self-taught education.  As a UNT Geography Major, you learn very quickly, there is strength in numbers.  The professors know this too, that is why they are choosy about majors!

Perishable Skills in a Global Context

Chad Smith, B.S. Geography, UNT, 2009. Research Manager with U.S. Department of Defense

When I was asked to contribute to this blog, my first thought was, “This will be great!” Then I faced the reality of trying to put my experiences into a coherent essay. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure how to frame the impact of my education at the University of North Texas on my life and career.

Unlike the masses of students who choose to major in geography as the result of an inspiring course or an engaging professor, I chose geography because of a job I already held. I decided to finish my undergraduate degree while I was working as a police officer assigned to the Crime Analysis Unit. I had recently learned GIS through trial and error, mostly error, over the previous year. I knew that many of the problems I was trying to unravel for my employer could be better understood through GIS and geographic principles. A geography degree seemed like a good idea.

I remember the first day I walked into Dr. Oppong’s office. He immediately put me to work on one of his many projects. I knew that I would like studying at UNT because I would be able to apply what I learned. Strangely enough, Dr. Oppong still puts me to work each time I visit his office.

The greatest outcome of my time at UNT is my relationships with the faculty. Even professors I never had for a class, such as Dr. Bruce Hunter and Dr. Chetan Tiwari, make themselves available for advice and counsel on everything from my latest GIS headache to my pursuit of a graduate degree.

I have worked in two positions since graduation in which I could apply my geography skills. First, I worked as a human terrain analyst with a Department of Defense organization. I was tasked with defining the socio-economic conditions of the operating environment. Typically, this required researching the physical terrain and the ethnic, religious, linguistic, and political groups within the area. I also researched the social, economic, and political systems that control the environment, including the informal systems. Part of my job was to include recommendations on ways to address instability. This required understanding underlying causes and identifying second- and third-order effects. I would not have been able to tackle such difficult and important work without the human geography coursework I took at UNT.

The job was extremely challenging and rewarding. The final product for each project was 4 to 6 PowerPoint slides and a 10 to 20 page white paper.  Every six weeks, I was tasked with a new area, and the process of research, analysis, and reporting would begin anew.

Currently, I am a research manager for a Department of Defense program in Afghanistan. I am part of a team responsible for managing over 30 research teams working in the country. I use statistics (spatial, descriptive and non-descriptive) and research methodologies as part of my daily toolbox. I use GIS software, SPSS, link analysis software, and text analysis software tools. I work with both structured and unstructured data. In the coming year, I hope to develop a population estimate for Afghanistan based on aerial imagery analysis combined with surveys conducted at sampling sites throughout the country. I also want to examine the coverage of medical and educational facilities using location-allocation modeling and network analysis.

I work closely with many different organizations in Afghanistan. People in these organizations often ask what I do. I rely on what Dr. Oppong often cited as the definition of geography: “What is where and why is it there?” Oftentimes, I need more than maps to answer that question. I need an understanding of – in no particular order – history, religion, politics, economics, social network theory, statistics, weather, climate, soil types, transportation, natural resources, and language.

I encourage anyone studying geography to maintain their skills in GIS, statistics, and writing. These are perishable skills that require frequent use. Applying your geography degree to a career takes a little imagination and a willingness to “extend knowledge” as Dr. Oppong used to say.

What does it mean to be a geographer?

Joseph Mayfield, B.S. in Geography from UNT, ESRI Technical Writer

Is a geographer a person who has memorized all the world’s countries and their capitals? Is it just someone who makes maps? Am I a geographer if I got my degree in Geography?

I currently work as a technical writer for ESRI, my first real job since graduating last May. Even though there’s no mention of spatial analysis or geoprocessing skills in my job description, I use things I learned in UNT’s geography program everyday. One of the most important parts of my job is being able to study a topic in depth and then communicate the things I’ve learned to a diverse audience. I developed and refined these research skills in almost every class I took with the department. Because I work for a company that makes GIS software, I am constantly reading up on new technologies and trying to understand not only how they work but how they’ll be used. The things I learned in my geography courses provide the context I need to see the value of products and tools and their potential applications. In a practical way, the GIS classes I took provide the foundation I need to test workflows and write up best practices for using ArcGIS.  The experiences I gained while working towards my degree prepared me in many ways for the things I do now working in the real world.

The influence of geography in my life has extended past the workplace. My growing interests in cartography, sustainable development, geodesign, location based services, and mountain climbing all deal with the spatial world on one level or another. The beautiful thing about this field is its relevance in so many other disciplines. I’m often reminded of Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography: "Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things." Taking a combination of physical and human geography classes has helped me to better recognize these relationships and understand their significance.

So, what does it mean to be a geographer? To me, it’s the way I connect to my environment. It’s about thinking spatially and framing my experiences from a spatial perspective. It’s being able to see the way things relate to each other because of their location. To me, it’s being curious about the world.

Indispensable Skills

YunLung Steven Yeh, who is from Taiwan, graduated with an MS in Applied Geography in 2010

My Master’s program focused on Retail Geography and Economic Geography with Dr. Rice, and my research concerns global expansion of foreign retailers. I am currently an expansion manager with Decathlon Co., which is a leading French sports-retail company. My job is to do market analysis and expansion planning to locate sites to open new stores. There are three experiences I want to share that concern how my graduate education prepared me for my career.

First, Geography is Indispensable
Many people in jobs like mine are business-school graduates, but geographers are the only experts who think from a geographic point of view. In my company, the expansion development team includes experts in many fields including finance, accounting, construction, architecture, marketing, geography…etc. Each expansion decision requires my approval. The reason is that well-designed expansion planning entails analysis of spatial patterns. Because a geographic perspective is unique in a field filled with business graduates, geographers are difficult to find and hard to replace.

Second, Skills are Important
Not only should you be an expert in your area of interest (for me retail and economic geography), you need to be able to apply other conceptual and mathematical tools. The tool of GIS is a unique weapon for a geographer. Dr. Hunter and Dr. Dong gave me a complete training in GIS. Although my company does not use the same software (ArcGIS) as used at UNT, I simply convert GIS concepts to Excel, Painter, and Google Earth together to create my own GIS tools. In addition, mathematical tools are important. Under training by Dr. Wolverton and Dr. Rice, I have confidence in speaking the language of statistics. Being an expert in a focused area of interest is not enough, if you can communicate in “numbers,” that will be a big plus for your career.  

Third, Always ask Questions
Employment deals with the real world. Text books and classes provide a general idea of knowledge. Answering practical questions in the real world is another issue. My major professor, Dr. Rice, always encouraged me travel as much as possible. I would try my best to understand any phenomenon I saw during the trips. Indeed, Dr. Rice and I would spend a lot of time discussing my observations after each trip. This helped me build real-world experiences so that I have been able to easily catch on to my job. Hence, I strongly recommend that students always find questions and answer them in the real world. It is good training before entering a career.

I am proud that I completed my degree in Applied Geography at UNT. There, I developed into a more skilled and mature geographer, which has made it easier to get a job and to succeed in the workplace. Learning to think geographically and to communicate scientifically leads to unique professional development, which makes a person indispensable in the workplace.

‘So you make maps?’

Sarah Josephson, UNT Geography Alum, Current M.S. Student

99 percent of the time this is the response I receive after telling someone that I study geography.  Understandably, high school geography (often taught by an athletics coach) typically does not leave individuals well informed or motivated about career opportunities in the field. 

I rediscovered geography through an intrigue in environmental science during my second semester at UNT.  Specifically, physical geography captivated my interest because it provided an opportunity to observe ecosystems on grand scales of deep time (historical geology) and it offered an opportunity to study climatic change.  I had always enjoyed learning, but it was not until I found my niche in geography that I truly knew what it was to have a passion for learning.  While I feel I am inherently a geographer, my passion for the field would not have evolved the same without the team of faculty pushing me to my limits.  Through the capstone courses at UNT, I was introduced to what it meant to research a topic and concisely communicate information. From that point, I was hooked and knew my learning would not end with a bachelor’s degree.  

When I considered where to continue my education in a master’s program, I could not shake UNT from my mind.  I was tormented by the idea that diversity in learning would only come from attending a different university, yet UNT geography is where I wanted to be.  In my great mental debate, the question: ‘Is there still something to be learned from the faculty here?’ was posed to me.  I knew that I had only scratched the surface of what I could gain and achieve through my mean green mentors, and I eagerly joined UNT’s Applied Geography Master’s Program.  Only five weeks into my master’s, there is no doubt in my mind that I am exactly where I need to be in order to develop the necessary skills for continuing deeper into the application of geography in ecology. I anticipate each day’s new opportunities for learning, and I owe thanks to the department for fostering excitement in my education.

Found: Geography Major

Owen Wilson-Chavez

UNT Geography, B.S., current Master's student

I know far too many people who have graduated with a bachelor’s degree in a field completely unrelated to what they have ended up doing. One of my friends got her B.A. in Political Science only to land a job at a sales company. She gets paid well, but what was the point of getting the degree in political science? Everyone I know in this situation seems to have gone to college to earn a degree so they can get a job. These days it seems that it’s the odd person, which I consider myself to be, who comes to college to learn. I hadn’t a clue what I wanted to do with my life when I arrived at UNT. I knew that I liked international politics and that I might like to work for an NGO so I pursued a degree in International Studies. At that time the International Studies department was small. There were no International Studies courses, only an interdisciplinary list of approved courses that covered the different concentrations. It was a little disheartening, but if it hadn’t been that way I might never have explored other options and arrived where I am today.

I didn’t intend to pursue the International Studies degree after my first semester at UNT. I had taken a class in anthropology that I enjoyed and decided to change my direction. I got bored with it though. Wading through the universities core curriculum left me unmotivated, and I wasn’t as excited about anthropology after a semester or two. I had, however, taken a class in geography in that time (World Regional Geography with Dr. Lyons). I don’t think I ever missed a class. I showed up every day and absorbed the material. I can’t remember any other class that I actually read for at that point in my college career. I had finally found something that really excited me. It took me awhile after that to actually change my major to geography. I took a few more of the introductory courses before then and didn’t get bored. I found out pretty quickly that Human Geography was more interesting to me than Physical Geography, but I also found out that that’s OK. When I started taking more and more classes in geography I began to enjoy going to class, I didn’t even care what the class was (my interests were pretty broad).

The department itself was different, and I liked it. International Studies was very small, but you never managed to know who else shared your major when you didn’t have a set of classes. Anthropology was large, and I never seemed to have more than one or two people in a multiple classes. Geography was small, and we all took the same classes. I remember going from Economic Geography (Dr. Lyons) to Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa (Dr. Oppong) with a large number of the same people. The next semester several of those same people were in more of my classes. It helped to create and foster friendships with my colleagues. I went from taking classes with a friend here and there to taking classes with friends and acquaintances. It’s something I don’t hear about a lot. There are departments like ours in that regard (Art, Music, and RTVF come to mind), but in my experience it’s the exception.

Having friends in your classes makes the classes themselves easier to tackle, and when you take a class like Quantitative Methods or the Capstone course you want friends to help push you along. I remember hearing horror stories about Quantitative Methods from other students, and I was more than a little intimidated by the course when it first started. I had had classes with most of the people that took it with me, and when we were told to form study groups it felt natural to make one with people I was familiar with. We all helped each other out that semester. We usually got together more than once a week to go over notes and help each other figure out the material; it worked well. When we moved on to the Capstone course we were already used to getting together, so we kept it going. I’m not sure if any of us would have been able to feel as confident with our work in that course if we hadn’t all stayed together and helped each other out that semester.  Those bonds helped us through other classes too, but anyone who reads this as a geography undergrad at UNT should know that forming friendships with your classmates can help you out just as much as showing up to class and studying.

When I was nearing the end of my degree I started really thinking about graduate school. I knew I wanted to continue my education in geography, and UNT felt like the perfect place to do it at. The department was right up my alley. Every professor I had at least seemed passionate about what they were teaching, which makes the learning environment that much better. Dr. Pan’s enthusiasm in Fluvial Geomorphology kept me going even though the material was well over my head, and I made it through having learned material that an inattentive, bored professor would have never gotten into my head. Dr. Wolverton managed to help me understand statistical analysis years after I’d sworn off any ability to understand statistics.  I could easily keep going with an example from every professor I had as an undergraduate, and that played a part in deciding to remain at UNT for my Master’s degree.

I feel that my time as a geography undergrad helped me out greatly. I definitely learned the necessity of working with others, not just to help understand classes but to actually make friends with a variety of people. The work in my courses prepared me for work in the real world, and if I was inclined to do so I feel that I would have had no problem in using my degree to get a job in almost any field where a geographic perspective is needed. Of course, more than anything, it cultivated my passion for geography and the desire to continue my geographic education at a higher level.

UNT GeogBlog: Stay Connected, Tell Your Story

Steve Wolverton & Murray Rice, UNT Geography

It is a fairly routine part of each of our days to hear encouraging stories about what students and alums have gotten out of their time at UNT in our Geography programs.  Often, we hear from someone in “the workplace” that the skills they learned and the enthusiasm for Geography that they generated in their time here has influenced them profoundly.  We want to chronicle these stories in a more permanent and accessible fashion, so that others can benefit from the telling.  So, we have started this blog, and we invite alumni to participate.  Whether or not you graduated with a Bachelor’s or a Master’s; if you would like to convey your anecdotes to the next generation, please send us a short essay.  These may consist of personal experiences, tips for current students, descriptions of what jobs “in the real world” entail, et cetera.

The first series of essays, such as the one by Owen Wilson-Chavez that follows this post, are those we invited.  We simply grabbed alums in the hallway (because a few of our recent undergraduate students have been accepted to our graduate program) and asked them to participate.  The goal of this blog, we said, is to link experiences across time and space (how geographic of us!), transcending the graduation barrier, providing opportunities for a growing community.

Ultimately, however, there is a more important goal of this blog.  Current students need to hear about “what can be done with a Geography degree.”  This is one more way to show them.  It may or may not be transparent that the UNT Geography Faculty is constantly working at improving the quality of the program, while simultaneously serving a growing community of majors.  But those are our goals.

Tell us about your experience.  Send us an essay on your current whereabouts, covering how UNT Geography has influenced your career.