One-on-One with TAC Historian Kendall Hurt

YR students on Teen Advisory Council’s Marketing/Communications Committee (MARCOM) are speaking one-on-one with fellow students to get to know them better, share their interests with the community and work on their interviewing skills. MARCOM Co-Chair Jacob Samm, a senior at Memorial High School, started off the project by interviewing Kendall Hurt. Kendall is a senior at Mater Dei High School and is the historian for Teen Advisory Council.

Kendall volunteering as part of #TeamBacon at the 2017 West Side Nut Club Fall Festival

Q. How long have you been involved in YR?
A. I started off in TEENPOWER in 7th grade, so since 2012. I have been doing TAC since my sophomore year. This is my third year. I am in Teen Court, too, which I just started last year.

Q. How and why did you start your photography business?
A. I got my camera from my boyfriend’s mom because she didn’t know how to use it, and she knew that I was in a journalism club and enjoyed photography. At that point, I used her camera and took pictures of Claudia [Duncan] a lot. One day, she said, “Hey, you should get a watermark,” and I thought that was a cool idea. And she actually ended up making my watermark.

I ended up posting the pictures on Facebook, and her family loved them. Then I posted them on Twitter, and my dad said I should start my own page. It’s still a kind of hobby, but it developed into more of a business because other people saw it once I started posting.

Q. Did anything inspire you or create an interest in you about photography?
A. My grandma takes pictures a lot, and my dad used to take pictures, too, so his whole side of the family is super picture-oriented. I guess I kind of grew up with it, but I never actually took pictures myself.

Kendall in action taking photos during 2017 TEENPOWER

Q. What kind of camera do you use?
A. I recently got a new one. It’s a Canon Rebel T6i, and I love it. My previous camera was a Canon Rebel X, which was sort of old, but worked well.

Q. If you could be any movie star, who would you be and why?
A. I would definitely be Jennifer Aniston because she is so beautiful, and I love Friends and she’s just hilarious off the camera and in all the movies she’s in.

Q. What do you enjoy about your job as the TAC historian, and what are some of the things you do?
A. A big thing I enjoy is getting to take pictures, which relates back to what we talked about [with my photography business], so it kinda gave me a chance to do it in more of an organized setting instead of off on my own.

As historian I take pictures, and I also have access to all of YR’s social media. I’m an administrator on the Facebook page and have access to upload pictures there for all the parents to see. I’m also in charge of making a slideshow at the end of the year, which didn’t happen last year, but I’m wanting to bring it back. I think I should.

Q. You’ve been a part of TEENPOWER for a long time. What brought you into the program and what keeps you there?
A. I started my seventh grade year. I went to Resurrection, and our sponsor teachers were just super adamant about it like, “Yeah, you should go.” I was really hesitant to go because I’m an only child and a homebody. I didn’t think I could deal with being away from home overnight. But they encouraged me to go, and I actually got to room with my three best friends because it was at USI. I really enjoyed it and I came back my eighth grade year and my staffers were awesome, so I decided I was going to keep coming back.

I went to High School TEENPOWER and heard the cliché, “Yeah, high school camp is so much better.” But, it truly was thanks to the Teen Panel night. It is just a turning point of camp. I also had an awesome staffer. Taylor Howard was one of my youth staffers for my first High School TEENPOWER, and she made all the difference.

Q. Is there anything you’re excited for this upcoming summer with TEENPOWER?
A. I’m excited to have a year of staff under my belt because last year I was new and my co-staff, even in a group of three, was super chaotic because we were all new. I’m really excited to feel more comfortable this year and have more fun with it this year instead of worrying about, “How am I going to facilitate this?”

Memorial senior and MARCOM Co-Chair Jacob Samm interviewed Kendall. Stay tuned for more “One-on-One” interviews with YR students!