# @utaustintx on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CdoX6QYJ3WT
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/18664106-utaustintx-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/5160f738c0.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-05-16T19:34:27.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** UT Austin (@utaustintx) — https://gondola.cc/utaustintx

## Caption

“I remember how nervous I was for my first news interview. I think I was a senior in high school, and I was just so incredibly nervous,” Hunter Beaton says. “I remember I kept asking, can we redo that?”

Chatting with Beaton, one of our outstanding graduates from the class of 2022, you can’t help but admire his friendly, self-assured nature now. Ever since he founded his nonprofit, day1bags, back in 2016, the communication and leadership major has been the face of his organization, speaking on major networks, channels and shows such as “Good Morning America,” KSAT-TV and NBC. Beaton confides that his composure is due in large part to his communications classes at The University of Texas at Austin.

“A lot of the focus of my classes has been on public speaking,” he says. “After presenting what you’ve researched in front of the class, you’re asked difficult questions. And that has been hugely valuable for my nonprofit work, because if I wasn’t exposed to my fellow classmates asking me insightful questions, it would not have enabled me to answer the news questions.”

For Beaton, his next step is to work at Day 1 Bags full time, using the knowledge and skills from his degree to grow his organization. Though it was a difficult decision, he says, he decided to complete his degree in three years in order to follow his passion of nonprofit work. He advises future Longhorns that staying true to yourself is the best way to discover your true passions and, ultimately, your true purpose. “Just be who you are and know that it’s OK to be uncomfortable. However big or small the things you are doing might seem, these are all things that are going to help you grow.”

Read more about Hunter and meet other graduates at news.utexas.edu/class-of-2022 #UTGrad22

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## Tags

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