Carter has been recognized for her achievements through multiple media outlets including a cover story in The Dallas Morning News tabloid “Quick,” two 2008 FOX broadcasts, a 2005 CNN broadcast, a profile in the Society for Professional Journalists magazine, and articles in several local newspapers.

Representative Carter is an at-large member on the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee. When she is back home, she enjoys spending time with her mother and father and her five siblings, who reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Stefani Carter’s education:
Graduate School 1: Harvard University’s Law School
Degree: J. D.
Concentration / Major: Law
Year Graduation: 2005

Graduate School 2: Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Degree: M.P.P.
Concentration / Major: Public Policy
Year Graduation: 2005

University / College: The University of Texas at Austin
Degree: B.A.
Concentration / Major: Government
Year Graduation: 2001

University / College: The University of Texas at Austin
Degree: B.J.
Concentration / Major: Journalism
Year Graduation: 2001

How did you get to where you are now?
I come from a family of eight. My mother was a public school teacher and my father is a small business owner who has been mowing lawns for a living for as long as I can remember. I didn’t have much growing up, but my parents taught me I could go far through education, hard work and determination. My parents believed that in America, it is not about where you’ve been; it’s about where you’re going.

Because of my parents’ incredible encouragement, I was inspired to set high goals and work hard to achieve them. After finishing my undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin and earning my master’s and law degree at Harvard, I moved back to Dallas to pursue a legal career. I worked very hard to try to be the best in my field. I worked for one of the top firms in the area and also had the opportunity to work for Collin County as a prosecutor.

All of my legal experience ultimately led me to my goal of one day serving my community and the needs of those surrounding me as an elected official. In November of 2010, I was elected as State Representative in House District 102.

Did you do internships or any other career-oriented preparations? What were they like?
As a young person, I was interested in and inspired by communications, government and policy-making, and I savored my various college internship experiences. My favorite college internship experiences were a challenging and rigorous economic internship at Yale University, as well as a brief fellowship at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., in which I had the opportunity to write editorials and to research policy issues. During law school at Harvard, I also clerked at various law firms.

What’s your favorite Comm Council memory?
I am still fond of the relationships I formed with other members and faculty involved in Communication Council. Even today, I am grateful for the opportunity I had as a student to network with inspiring people.

Why was Comm Council important to you?
Communication Council is a great agent for teaching college students about leadership, relationships and most importantly, effective communication. Being a part of this terrific group helped to give me the confidence I needed to move forward in my education and professional life. Even today, I can still appreciate the solid communications foundation I was able to build during my tenure as a student on the council.

What advice do you have for students preparing for the career world?
I believe you should embrace the opportunities to network, get involved, and to find ways to make an impact. I encourage students to find good mentors and to get involved in activities. If you work hard and continue to dream, I promise you will be amazed at what you can achieve. Remember, never, ever give up. And think big!

Q: How did you get to where you are now?
A: When I tell people that my undergrad degree is in advertising, they are usually a bit confused. It’s an interesting and unusual story of how I found my way into a doctoral psychology program.

As an undergraduate, I was exceptionally focused on a career in advertising. I was fortunate to intern with several creative agencies including McGarrah/Jessee, GSD&M, BBDO, and TBWA/Chiat/Day. I carved my niche in consumer research as I prepared myself for a long career in account planning. Everything changed during my senior year, however, when I paused to reflect on my goals and my motivation for pursuing them. For too long I had been concerned with what career move was next in order to position myself as the best candidate for an agency job. But when I stopped to question what I actually enjoyed about account planning, I realized that I loved research and examining what drives people to make certain decisions.

My passion was for understanding human behavior but I actually felt indifferent towards marketing and business. I wanted my career purpose to benefit people and their quality of life. At that moment, I realized that psychology was the perfect fit for combining my interest in human behavior with my desire to help others.

Q: How did you prepare for what you do now?
A: Once I realized that I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology (just before I was supposed to graduate!), I decided to stay a 5th year to take psychology classes and gain research experience. I had a limited amount of time before I had to apply to grad school, so I approached several professors about helping out with research projects. At one point I was a research assistant in two clinical psychology labs, one social psychology lab, while I also assisted a professor in counseling psychology, who is now my graduate adviser. I was able to gain some highly valuable experience that made me competitive for grad school but also confirmed my passion for psychology.

Q: What’s your favorite Comm Council memory?
A: To this day, I feel that joining Comm Council was among the top 3 decisions I made while in undergrad because some of my closest, lifelong friends are former council members It’s hard to pick just one favorite memory, but I think some of the best times happened when we were hanging out in the CC office at random hours. I was also fortunate to help out the efforts to renovate the CMA lobby and to raise money for the new building. My council friends, who are now spread out across the country, have always joked about a reunion when the new building opens. I am not-so-secretly hoping that we can make it happen!

Q: What’s your favorite restaurant in Austin?
A: My favorite restaurant in Austin is Fonda San Miguel. It’s more of a special occasion kinda place, but it has some of the best Mexican dishes I’ve ever eaten.

Q: Who’s your favorite band/singer?
A: I have admittedly embarrassing taste in music, but I will own up to the fact that my favorite singer is Leona Lewis.

Q: What’s your favorite ad or advertising campaign?
A: Google’s ad during the Super Bowl a couple of years back (“Parisian Love”) is still one of my favorites because it tells a human story so effectively but so simply. I am a sucker for an emotional TV spot.

Q: What advice do you have for comm students preparing for the career world?
A: My best advice for a Comm student (or any student) entering the career world is to stop for a moment and give thought as to why you’re pursuing your path. It is too easy to do things solely simply because they seem practical. It is important to know with what your actual passion is and what values and higher-level goals drive you. Ask yourself: “What is the purpose of my work?” If you feel excited and fulfilled by the answer, you know you’re headed in the right direction.

Q: What do you do and who do you work for?
A: I am a filmmaker. I recently left MTV to start my own production company & make my first film, a documentary about sexual orientation based discrimination here in the US. I am also a content creator on YouTube.

Q: How did you get to where you are?
A: It took hard work, a lot of focus, and sacrifice for me to get to where I am now. My career was here in California & so I moved here immediately upon graduating from UT. The job market was terrible, so I turned to YouTube to start creating content & found success there. I dedicated all of my time to work & eventually got a paid internship for a marketing company, then a post production position at Bunim-Murray, & finally an executive assistant position at MTV. I worked there for almost 2 years & soaked up all of the knowledge that I could. I’m hoping it was enough!

Q: Did you do internships or any other career-oriented preparations? What were they like?
A: Yes, I did an multiple internships throughout college. I spent a Summer in the UTLA program (highly recommended) interning for a music video production company. I was a production assistant on a couple of independent films in Austin. Then when I first moved to Los Angeles, I was interning for 3 different companies at one time. I was doing any work that I could get my hands on, paid or unpaid. They were really great experiences because they prepared me for my executive assistant position at MTV.

Q: What advice do you have for communication students preparing for the career world?
A: I would have to quote Lana Del Rey on this one. She recently said, “Find someone who has a life that you want & figure out how they got it. Read books, pick your role-models wisely, find out what they did… and do it.” Look at the people who are doing the things that you want to do. Follow in their footsteps & learn from them. Go to them. It is easier now than ever before to get in touch with someone, so I suggest doing it. What do you have to lose?

Q: What’s your favorite Comm Council memory?
A: My favorite CC memory is not a specific one. It’s the overall feeling that I get when I think back to my time there. I have never felt so comfortable & in so a part of something before. While we were all so different, there was a common thread of creativity that brought us together. It felt like a family & really miss it.

Q: What was your favorite thing about the CC office?
A: The colors. The desks. The many ways it could be arranged. How easy it was to get messed up. The random items & memories you would find from past years. Being there late at night & on the weekends. The songs that we would sing like no one was watching – though we quickly realized that many were listening as our notes belted out the cracked office door & echoed through the hallways. People being in there. It was always fun to see how many people we could cram in for the info sessions.

Q: What’s your spirit animal?
A: I’m not sure what this is. Maybe a bird? Or a lion since it rhymes with Ryan? Or rhino.

Q: If you were still on CC, whose committee would you be on?
A: Special Events. I always wanted to be on that committee, but never had the opportunity. Or funding, I always wanted to have a CARWASH!

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Keep tuning in for more alumni features!

Stop by the Communication Plaza this Wednesday from 9am – 12pm for a FREE parfait bar loaded with an assortment of toppings. You might be wondering, who is putting on this wonderful, generous and delicious gift for communication students? Well the generous and delicious Communication Council of course!

Stop by, eat your heart out, and love your college.
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kelcey bacon
multimedia member

Q: What do you do and who do you work for?
A: I teach 4th grade in Dallas ISD as a Teach For America (TFA) corps member. TFA is a national organization dedicated to placing recent college graduates in high-need urban and rural schools across the country.

Q: How did you get to this point? What made you want to work for TFA?
A: As a student at UT, I volunteered at a historically underserved high school in East Austin. This opened my eyes to the vast injustices that persist in our nation’s schools today. I quickly learned that students growing up just miles apart from one another are ultimately set on two completely different life paths simply because of the neighborhoods they grow up in and the schools they’ll attend. When I realized the immense gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers, I knew I wanted to dedicate myself to help solve this problem. I joined Teach For America immediately after graduating because of its commitment to high-need urban and rural schools. Through my experience, I’ve been given so many incredible opportunities to work with communities all over Texas and impact families and students in many different capacities. I’m excited to continue working towards true educational equality following my TFA commitment this year.

Q: Did you do internships or any other career-oriented preparations? What were they like?
A: While I was in school, I completed two internships with local publicity and digital media agencies. I worked as a publicity intern for Wyatt Brand and as a digital media intern for VM Foundry. Both of these internships were with small, local agencies so I had many opportunities to work directly with clients and the teams that supported them. Through this, I learned many invaluable skills about project management and the importance of cultivating genuine relationships – skills I use every day as a teacher.

Q: What advice do you have for communication students preparing for the career world?
A: Get to know as many people as possible. Your professors and peers in the College have a wide range of unique knowledge and experiences and chances are there’s someone around who knows a ton about something you’re interested in. Find that person and keep up with them even after you’ve graduated. The value of a mentor who knows you well and can speak to the growth you’ve made in college – both personally and professionally – is invaluable. Also, always think about the skills and habits you’re learning in your classes and consider how they can serve you in any different career. Chances are you’ll change jobs and transition industries several times when you’re young. Take time to “zoom out” and reflect on what you’ve learned and think about how you can apply your amazing skillset to any number of future opportunities.

Q: What’s your favorite Comm Council memory?
A: There really are too many incredible memories to pick just one so instead I’ll list the amazing, amazing people I met through Council that no doubt share each of these wonderful memories with me: Melania, Emily, Joe, Brooke, Sarah, Enrique, Phil, Lindsey, and Arnell – college would not have been the same without this crew. And they know it.

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look out for more entries next week!

This Monday, April 9, we will be hosting an official Town Hall! You will have the opportunity to address the deans and the department heads with any questions, concerns, and/or suggestions you may have for our college, your department and major. We will also be presenting the results of the survey our Student Issues and Advisory Committee conducted last semester about student insights into the College of Communication. So, if there’s something you want to see changed in our college, here’s the place to start! The event will be held at 6 p.m. in the MAI 212 (the Tower). Whether you have questions or not, come and get the latest update on the school we all so dearly love from the people in charge themselves. See you there!

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bailey sullivan
multimedia member

Then head out to Juicy Tart on San Antonio and 24th to cool off and conjure your own frozen yogurt concoction right now! During the whole month of April, Communication Council will be holding a fundraiser at Juicy Tart Yogurt, so make sure to treat yourself to some yummy fro yo and please don’t forget to mention that you’re with Communication Council to help support us!

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roby arriaga
multimedia member

Rainey street is a neighborhood of older vintage houses that have been gutted and replaced with some of the finest drinks this city has to offer. Each bar on the street has a draw of its own, whether it be the giant projector screen of the sporty Bar 96, or the classy Mad Men feel of Clive. This Tuesday at 7 p.m. in BUR 112, Communication Council is thrilled to announce that Bridget Dunlap, the owner and visionary behind Rainey Street, will lead a lecture on her experiences creating this Austin hot spot. Join Communication Council and Ms. Dunlap for a night you will not soon forget.

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kelcey bacon
multimedia member

photo by Ricardo B. Brazziell / AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Nah, just kidding, but we did go to Peter Pan Mini-Golf. Between the oversized stone sculptures of a dinosaur, the rabbit from all your nightmares, and a purple-tailed free willy, it was basically Neverland. Sans flying. Well, that’s not true. The golf balls flew.

You’re dying to know who won, aren’t you?

No one won, because it was impossible to keep score. We thought about capping-off the total number of strokes per hole to seven. And then by hole two, everyone but Paola (our admin director) was taking about nine to 13 strokes. Texas Fight, no? There was either a strange magnetic field between the golf balls and the faux turf, or the course was simply under a spell to have everyone running back-and-forth across the hole with their putter each time the ball glided along the edge of the cup without actually making it in.

Sometimes the witches were working in our favor, though. Actually, just twice did they work in our favor—when yours truly and my wonderful little (shared by Alex), Audrey, made hole-in-ones. (GO US!)

*in no way is comm council associated with witchcraft*

Nonetheless, it became very clear we’re not made out for the PGA tour.

We completed our night on the town with the obvious choice: Amy’s Ice Cream. It was swell. Also, did you know if you order a root beer float, that it’s cheaper than a small cup and you get more ice cream? Our chairs Hunter and Ashley figured this one out.

Learn something new everyday, right?

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caleb fox
multimedia chair