Alumnus travels back to campus
Helping women find their wings was a special collaboration to help inspire the women of Texas A&M University- Kingsville (TAMUK) and took place during Women’s History Month (March).
TAMUK Career Engagement organized a panel of alumni to answer students’ questions regarding career advancement, leadership and professionalism.
Alumnus Amanda DeFrees was invited to travel back to her alma mater, sit on the panel and speak with TAMUK students.
“It’s essential for alumni to come back to campus as it demonstrates to current students that success is within reach. All alumni were once in their shoes, and hearing from alumni like Amanda serves as an encouragement for students to envision their future selves and keep pushing towards the finish line of graduation… Amanda serves as an exemplary role model for all students due to her living testament that setting goals and putting in the hard work can lead to great accomplishments. Her dedication, perseverance, and success inspire others to strive for their own excellence,” former Alumni Engagement Coordinator of TAMUK Monica Hysquierdo said.
During her visit, DeFrees made it a point to buckle down on the importance of having women in the music field to the students from the School of Music.
DeFrees graduated in 2021 and has never forgotten her roots, as she always makes it a point to visit both The Javelina Media Experience and The School of Music.
After working for “Ultimate Drill Book” for quite some time, DeFrees pitched her passion project, Fem Forte.
Fem Forte is a video podcast aimed to eliminate a gap of exposure of women in music.
During her visit DeFrees hosted a live podcast episode in which student Euphonist Yasmin Cantu was able to take part in.
“Honestly, the lack of representation is one of the biggest obstacles. Music is a male-dominated field, and there are more male students than women students enrolled at TAMUK’s School of Music. Other than that, I’ve heard instances of women in music not being taken as seriously compared to their male colleagues,” Cantu said.
DeFrees explores the different perspectives from female leaders in music by providing them with a platform to share their knowledge.
“It [DeFrees’s conversation] helped bring to light how important it is for current women leaders in the music field to keep encouraging and inspiring younger women in music,” Cantu said.
DeFrees researches, sets up equipment, conducts interviews, edits video and promotes the podcast all by herself.
“The podcast does focus on music education and people in band, but this knowledge can be applied anywhere. For example in one of my episodes we are speaking about work-life balance,” DeFrees said.
For those interested in tuning in to Fem Forte it is available to watch or listen on YouTube, Spotify and Stride Tv.
“It’s not about always having difficult conversations; it’s about celebrating them and their different accomplishments as human beings in general. At the end of the day that’s what this podcast is about, creating a space for awesome people to come on to share their story and experiences,” DeFrees said.