A black and gold world — 6 Mountaineers share how App State prepared them for life, career success

From helping a social media influencer produce a viral TikTok video to advising an organization on how to boost its social media engagement, every workday is different for App State’s Gabbie Villarreal ’19, who described her work as fast-paced, exciting and fulfilling.

Villarreal serves as digital marketing director for Dosis Media, a video marketing agency in Puebla, Mexico. She manages the social media accounts of all agency clients, which includes developing social media marketing strategies, and assists her team with video production.

While at App State, her internship at AppTV — the university’s award-winning, student-staffed television station — gave her real-world experience. She uses the communication skills she learned through the experience on a daily basis, she said.

She came to App State as an exchange student enrolled in a dual degree program offered by App State and the University of the Americas Puebla (UDLAP) in Mexico. She earned her Bachelor of Science in communication, electronic media/broadcasting from App State and a bachelor’s degree in communication-media production from UDLAP.

As an international student, Villarreal’s first point of contact with App State was the Office of International Education and Development (OIED) and student members of International Appalachian (INTAPP), an organization committed to globalizing the App State campus and community. These students helped her “come out of her shell” and meet new friends during her first days at App State, she said.

Through OIED’s International Friendship Program, Villarreal was paired with an “amazing host family,” she said, and visited the nation’s capital twice. She served as a Cultural Ambassador, sharing her Mexican culture with local elementary school students in Boone, and as a Spanish tutor in the university’s Disco Student Learning Center.

Villarreal said she is considering returning to App State to pursue her master’s degree.

“I’m so thankful for App State, for having had that opportunity in my life. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat,” she said.

App State alumna Natsumi Kimura ’13 said learning U.S. employment law through her master’s program at App State has helped in her Tokyo, Japan-based job as an employee relations specialist — she is now more aware of how local laws and regulations affect employees differently in different locations.

Kimura earned her Master of Arts in industrial-organizational psychology and human resource management (IOHRM) from App State in 2013. She works for a financial institution based in the United Kingdom, with offices in more than 40 countries.

In her role, Kimura is responsible for overseeing all matters related to employee relations — including case management, policy management and employee wellness.

She was attracted to the IOHRM program because she wanted to apply the study of psychology in business, she said, rather than going into a clinical field.

The unique pairing of the program’s psychology and management fields provides both knowledge and tools that can be used instantly in the “real business world,” Kimura said. She has drawn upon her psychology studies when engaging in difficult conversations with employees and to help manage and control her own emotions and stress, she said.

Kimura shared that she struggled at times with the language barrier between English and her native Japanese, but her “wonderful peers” in the IOHRM program were always available to help. Additionally, the program’s small class sizes made it easy to communicate directly with faculty, she said.

App State’s interdisciplinary IOHRM degree program is offered by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology and the Walker College of Business’ Department of Management.

Kimani Adam is CEO and co-founder of Nature Expeditions Destination Management, an award-winning African photographic safari operator currently based in Port Louis, Mauritius, with offices worldwide. As nomad-in-chief of Nature Expeditions Destination Management, Adam manages more than 230 employees and oversees the company’s global products, from design through delivery.

A 2012 graduate of App State’s Walker College of Business (WCOB), Adam earned two Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degrees — one in economics and one in finance and banking.

Adam described his experiences in WCOB’s Department of Economics and Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance with one word — exceptional.

“The business classes at the Walker College of Business were the biggest factor in giving me clarity in being an entrepreneur today, and what it really takes to run a business from a skill set standpoint,” Adam said.

While at App State, Adam served as president of the Appalachian African Community and the Global Connections Initiative. He was also a cultural ambassador for the AS-U-GO Global Outreach Program and vice president of AIESEC (Association for the International Exchange of Students in Economics and Commerce), and was a member of International Appalachian, the Association of Student Entrepreneurs and the World Trade Association.

Adam said App State “gives a great college experience in a positive and tight-knit college community that builds you up well in your college path to graduation.”

Adam received an Adam P. Kephart Endowed Scholarship for International Programs from App State, which gave him the opportunity to take Summer Session classes between his sophomore and junior years.

He holds a Master of International Business from Hult International Business School, and in 2019 he was recognized in Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list of African business entrepreneurs.

As a former military and commercial airline pilot, Dr. Doug Drury has worked in several “high-risk, high-reward environments,” he said, and applies lessons learned through these experiences — and those gained through his App State education — in his current roles as professor and head of aviation at Central Queensland University in Cairns, Australia.

After high school, Drury served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg and then trained to fly helicopters at Fort Rucker in Alabama. Earning his wings has taken him across the world — to Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In 2004, working as a pilot for the helicopter emergency medical service he co-founded, Drury sustained a serious knee injury. Afterward, he returned to App State to pursue his Master of Arts in higher education.

“I was interested in how adults learn and how to best position a training program,” he said. “The program provided me with a great foundation for understanding how young adults and nontraditional students learn.”

As part of the program, Drury completed an internship with airline Virgin Blue in Australia. The airline asked Drury to review and suggest improvements for its human factors program — how pilots are trained to deal with emergencies and other crises.

According to Drury, applying human factors psychology to the development of pilot training aids and programs can lead to improved flight safety, lessening aircraft incidents and accidents caused by human error.

After completing his App State master’s degree, Drury returned to Australia to pursue a Ph.D. in aviation human factors and safety management systems from the University of South Australia (UniSA). There, he served as operations manager of the university’s Aviation Academy and as an associate professor of aviation and director of its aviation STEM program.

Josh Haigler ’05, of the United Kingdom, said being part of an international team is one of the best aspects of his job with UK’s Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) office. As JLR’s imports inbound manager, he oversees his office’s supply chain and logistics team, which coordinates the import of prototype and manufacturing parts from China and India to the UK for distribution to all of JLR’s global manufacturing facilities.

“All of my team members are from different countries, and it makes it exciting to work and learn from each other as we all bring our vast and diverse experience to solve problems together,” he said.

A graduate of App State’s Walker College of Business (WCOB), Haigler said his App State Experience allowed him to “develop skills that opened up the whole world for me.” He spent a semester studying in Germany and ultimately worked there for eight years. He credits the knowledge and German language skills he acquired at App State for making his overseas career possible.

A native of North Carolina, Haigler said he loves the Appalachian Mountains and outdoor sports. As a prospective student, he said App State was a perfect fit for him — educationally, personally and financially.

Involved in both the campus and High Country communities, Haigler also helped organize field trips for World Trade Association Club members, including visits to U.S. Embassies, Bloomberg offices in New York City, various port authorities and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

“App State offers just about anything and everything you are looking for in higher education. I met some of my dearest, lifelong friends there,” he said. “If you want to further yourself in all measures while also seeing the world, App State should absolutely be on your short list.”

Haigler holds two Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degrees from App State — one in economics and the other in international business. He received scholarship support through the Baden-Württemberg Austausch Program and the Grandfather Golf Country Club Foundation.

Amber Opheim ’03, an award-winning professional opera singer, discovered what she described as her “life’s calling” during her first year at App State, after playing a small role in a Giacomo Puccini opera produced by the university’s Hayes School of Music.

“Being part of that experience showed me this whole new world of the performing arts and the vocal arts,” said Opheim, who earned her bachelor’s degree in music performance-voice from App State in 2003.

Opheim, who has lived and performed in countries across Europe over the last 10 years, currently performs at an opera house in Bern, Switzerland. Her favorite part of her job? The music, she said.

“Feeling the vibrations of the orchestra and the other singers all around you, collaborating in that way — there’s an energy to it that is really quite addictive,” she shared.

After high school, Opheim considered attending a music conservatory, she said, and applied to several, but ultimately chose to pursue her voice education at App State. “It was an environment in which I could be nurtured and grow. I could start and get to where I was going at my own tempo, and the faculty facilitated that,” she said.

As part of her voice curriculum, Opheim learned songs in different languages, including French, Italian and German. She minored in German and became a member, then eventually president of App State’s German Club.

Opheim studied abroad for a summer in Germany, which gave her a glimpse into what it would be like to live abroad. “It never seemed daunting; it always seemed like a great adventure,” she said.

Opheim still keeps in contact with many of her Hayes School colleagues. “Really great, talented people have gone to the Hayes School of Music and have developed careers out of it. It’s something to be proud of. It’s a really great school,” she said.

She holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from DePaul University in Chicago.