Samantha Shorey and Husband Samuel Woolley
Where is your favorite place in Austin?
-"The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center."
What movie genre is your favorite?
-"Movies that are funny and sad at the same time."
Where would you love to travel to next?
-"Mexico City!"
Samantha and Best Friend Laura
Meet Samantha Shorey
What do you currently do at UT?
-"I teach two undergraduate classes: Communication for Innovation and Using Communication Technology at Work. I teach a graduate course in Qualitative Research Methods. And I do research with collaborators about how automation and AI are affecting workers."
Where are you from?
-"Eugene, Oregon"
How and when did you decide to work in communication?
-"I did my undergrad in Communication at the University of San Diego. I had two professors there, Dr. Esteban del Rio and Dr. Kristin Moran, who inspired me. I didn't have a super high GPA (like a 3.6) and neither of my parents graduated from college, so I didn't really think that getting a PhD was something for me. But they encouraged me to apply and supported my applications. Their mentorship has meant so much to me. Dr. del Rio was the officiant of my wedding! And, I received my PhD from the same university as Dr. Moran!"
What’s one of the most memorable things that happened during your Undergraduate Years?
-"I always tell my students "you never know when you might meet that special someone." And I don't just mean that romantically! I met two of my very best friends to this day, Laura and Christopher, in Comm 101 and Political Science 101. And I met my husband working at the school newspaper."
What’s one of the most memorable things that happened during your Graduate Years?
-"Before I went to graduate school, I'd never been out of the US except for one family trip to Cancun lol. But during my PhD, I had so many opportunities to spend time with people I admire in the wildest places: at an onsen in Fukuoka, Japan; drinking piscolas in Santiago, Chile; rowing down the Thames in Oxford, England."
What are you proudest of?
-"Yesterday, a student told me that the conversations we had in class allowed her to learn so much from others and from herself. And, I feel so proud of creating a space where that can happen."
What is a fun fact about you that most people here don’t know?
-"I was in a sorority in college, Kappa Alpha Theta."
If you could go back in time, what’s one piece of advice you would give to yourself?
-"Go slow. You don't need to hustle for worthiness."
What’s one piece of advice you would give current students?
-"You are just getting started! Sometimes my students have this feeling that they need to already be there (wherever 'there' is; the thing they wonder if they could be, the person they wonder if they could be.) And, they're afraid that if they aren't most of the way there by the time they graduate, then the time is up. But, that's just not true. There is so much time."