Stories that Unite Us: 2018

Each of us has our own story, a narrative that is deeply relevant to who we are. Our Aggies have shared their own. Whether their stories sound familiar to yours or challenge the way you think, they are definitely worth listing to. These are the stories of Aggie Heroes: stories that unite us.

Speaker Biographies

Koralene Tapoof

Koralene Tapoof is the mother of Avory and Shelby Lynn Martinez, the grandmother to Oliver Lee Martinez, and the fiancè of Jerrod Mountain. The tribe she belongs to is the Northern Ute Indian of Utah. Koralene is a workaholic and a shopaholic, her weakness is totes (she cannot pass them up). The hobby she loves the most is photography, and her favorite comic book character is the “Hulk” because Hulk Smash! She is a work in progress, always learning from the past and looking ahead to the future.

Kennedy Murdock

Kennedy Murdock is from Salt Lake City and graduated from Olympus High School in 2015. She has been attending Utah State for the last 3 year and is studying mathematics planning on graduating in 2020. She has also had the opportunity to be on the A-Team for the university for the last two years and has enjoyed every moment of it. She enjoys rock climbing, watching Netflix, and hanging out with friends.

Sami Ahmed

Sami Ahmed was born on June 6, 1995 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He grew up in Ethiopia for the first 11 and half years of his life. He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in December 2006. Prior to attending Utah State University, he lived in Australia. Most of Sami's immediate family lives in Ethiopia. His mother and his two brothers live in Salt Lake City and his father currently lives in Saudi Arabia. Currently, Sami is a junior studying finance and chemistry and plans on attending Medical School one day. His favorite subjects are History and politics.

Claire Harrison

Claire is a senior studying Economics here at Utah State University. She was born and raised in Bountiful, Utah, and she has two older brothers that she loves more than anything. Last year Claire did a congressional internship in Washington, D.C. and discover that she loves law and global relations. Her life goal is to enable girls around the world to be able to get the safe education they have the right to.

Benson Ambrose

Benson Ambrose is a 43 year old Navajo. He is a husband to his wife Lavera Ambrose, and a father to his two sons; Blake and Wyatt Ambrose who are ages five and six. He is also an uncle and a brother. He is currently a Senior at Utah State University studying Agriculture Education.