BEHIND THE STORIES Jennifer Bryant
Jennifer Bryant is a Utah native and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in Substance Use Disorder Counseling. She is currently a practicing clinician, working in her internship for her master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Jennifer is passionate about speaking her truth. She researches and incorporates methods of treatment for her clients and for anyone who is searching for some added support and treatment. She has survived her own journey through trauma and healing and love living the life she has created for herself now! Jennifer plans to continue her education and obtain her PhD in the future. She will continue researching and advocating for mental health treatments. Jennifer loves animals of all kinds and currently plays “mother” to four cats that she absolutely adores! She believes that animals are one of the best forms of treatment available for mental health! She volunteers for an amazing rescue, Whiskers. She also has shelters and a feeding station on her property for a group of community cats. She has worked with Best Friends Animal Society to help trap, sterilize, and release community cats to help keep the population manageable.
Sona Schmidt-Harris
Though Sona Schmidt-Harris spent most of her childhood outside of Utah, and five years in the Big Apple, she still considers Utah home. She feels “naked” if the land is flat and uninterrupted by edifices, whether human or nature made. She has written many profiles of artists in the local Holladay Journal and Utah Life magazine. In addition to her career as a paralegal, she was also a journalist at the Intermountain Commercial Record and Salt Lake Times, where she wrote legal-related articles. Her parents were thrilled when their ethereal daughter finally did something practical to earn a living. A five-time Society of Professional Journalists winner, she has yet to win first place. Sona loves to travel and recently spent three months in Portugal where she chronicled her journey with photos and words on her website.travelsabroad.net. In addition to her interest in journalism, Sona is also a published poet and flash fiction writer, and believes that her first “call” was to poetry; however, it was her short story “Little Alfie” which first got her published at San Miguel Elementary School after it appeared in the school district’s literary compilation, “Short and Long and Even a Song”, when she was eight.
Adam Hynes
Adam is an Oregon based nature photographer with a real passion for the natural world. Adam tries to capture places in moments so unique, they feel like another planet. Photography connects himi with the earth, and the people on it. Adam loves photography, life, and people. Bringing them together is beautiful! @livinlavidaphoto
Fletcher Marchant
Fletcher Marchant is the Layout Designer for Utah Stories,as well as a Graphic Designer on the side, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has lived in Utah his whole life. Fletcher is attending Salt Lake Community College to wrap up his degree before transferring to the University of Utah next spring. Fletcher started doing design when he was only 15-years-old. That’s when he discovered GIMP, and he knew it was something he could turn into a career. Over the years Fletcher has developed a foundation of design that should be used as a tool by utilizing the very framework of a composition. He hopes that readers can still see him through the layouts and that they continue reading Utah Stories.
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