Austen Hammon
Austen Hammon is from Newberg, Oregon and is currently a student in the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon. His Professional interest lies within sports advertising where he hopes to one day work within a big name sports company (i.e. Nike, adidas.)
The issue that he is focusing on in gateway is ‘Veteran employment’, which entails the stigmas and stereotypes that most veterans face when trying to find employment. Veteran employment is an interesting topic because it’s a sensitive subject. No employer will voice that they are apposed to hiring veterans, however, most employers are afraid of running the risk of hiring a veteran with anger problems or PTSD. Austen, coming from a family where both Grandpa’s served in the military feels he has some connection to the issue. Student veteran, Patrick Garner, was able to give insight to the lasting effects that disorders such as PTSD can have on a veterans life goals, as well as the stigmas that follow veterans whether they suffer from a disorder or not. Through these projects, you can see that veterans such as Garner, are just as capable at working in a professional work environment as anyone else. Austen’s initial impression on doing a project on this issue was that he wouldn’t be able to get in contact with a veteran because they all have issues and wouldn’t want to be bothered. After hanging around the veterans center and meeting some of Garners co-workers who are also veterans, it’s clear that that’s not the case. Every veteran that Austen met was very level headed and had no problem with being around someone who isn’t a fellow veteran. By interviewing Garner, Austen learned that even though some veterans are plagued with disorders, it shouldn’t be assumed that they all do when hiring a veteran. This project has changed Austen’s view on how to approach story telling. It takes preparation and consistence to develop a great piece of work and to tell the story the way you want to tell it. These projects have been a test of patience, while at the same time a test of adaptability. Going forward Austen will continue to find stories and be sure to put the same preparation that it took to develop these projects.