Thirty under Thirty

Record producer

Marco Arras, 24

By Lauren Omahen

Most people store old National Geographics and Christmas decorations in the basement. Not Marco Arras. He built a recording studio.

When he leased his house in August, Arras saw the underground escape as the foundation for his project: Elephant Tortoise Records. Cement walls and a wooden framework were soon dressed with noise-absorbing plywood to achieve high sound quality. Arras brought in local graffiti artist Lies to paint and give the space an edge with a black and lime green extraterrestrial blob with its appendages sprawled over the walls.

"It's an explosion," Arras says. "It sets a creative mood." He fashioned a space fit for local artists to create and record their work; ironically, Arras doesn't play an instrument. He played the trombone in middle school and has a guitar he never uses. With roommates and friends who are musicians, including Eric Farlow (pg. 19), Arras has the hook-up for local artists in need of a place to lay down some tracks.

"We do a little of everything — from Bob Dylan covers to hip-hop." Recently, Elephant Tortoise worked with local band Task Force, a punk-ska group whose members plan to make a vinyl copy of their record, which Arras hopes to put up on the studio's wall.

Arras has been writing a couple songs of his own, but for now it's all about collaborating with other groups and building his brand. "Not many people just get to do whatever they want," Arras says. "I got lucky."

Designer

Kristen Brown, 28

By Jessica Holdman

Wielding a hot pink-HANDLED X-ACTO KNIFE with practiced precision, Kristen Brown slices open the long cardboard box that has just been delivered. She extracts a postcard, holds it as if it were a thin sheet of glass and examines it. "Aww, how cute," Brown says in response to the wedding invitation as if this were the first time she had seen the card. In reality, she designed it.

Brown is a graphic designer and the owner of Hoot Design Co. She was a notebook doodler through school and felt most at ease in an art room. Much to her parents' relief, she wasn't really the starving-artist type.

"Graphic design is an amazing way to get to be creative every day and still make a living," Brown says. "It's commercial, which I happen to like because I love the art of communicating."

St. Louis University didn't have a graphic design program at the time she attended college, so she majored in both art and advertising. In 2005, the Columbia native headed to Chicago, where she worked as an art director at an advertising and branding company for several years. Busy work schedules left her and her husband with little time for each other, so she returned to her CoMo roots in 2010.

Before moving back, Brown created a letter collage for her sister-in-law's baby shower. She wanted to give the mother-to-be something completely original, not the typical A is for alligator, B is for baseball. Each letter stood for the name of a family member or something important to the couple. Friends loved it and suggested she make them for sale. After making a second one, she took their advice and brought the business idea back to her hometown.

Her art came to life in the form of Columbia map tote bags sold at Poppy. Other mid-Missouri pieces such as "I heart CoMo" and "Midwest is Best" prints joined the ranks of her baby-friendly art, and Hoot Design Co. was born. She was looking for something fun and catchy, and the company name and its eventual owl logo were a natural fit.

Brown plans to continue designing brands and logos. Creating and selling her own products full time would require a larger staff and more time, which she doesn't want. For her, brand design is rewarding. She loves seeing her brands on the street, maybe on the back of a T-shirt or in a company's window. She'll continue to make some original artwork but will spend most of her time creating logos for local businesses.

Fundraiser

Libby Burks

By Jaclyn DiPasquale

They call them the "Zootoo girls." Dog lovers across Missouri hail Amanda Huhman and her best friend Libby Burks, both 15, as heroes after the girls helped rescue and restore the aging Central Missouri Humane Society.

The girls have been supporters of the Humane Society for years and have been two of the shelter's most devoted volunteers. Huhman's love for the shelter began in third grade when her family adopted their first dog, Bandit, a beagle and basset hound mix. For Libby, it happened in second grade when she volunteered with her baby sitter. But in their time there, the duo had watched the shelter deteriorate.

"Libby and I had talked about how the shelter was really dirty and kind of falling apart, so we decided to help," Huhman says.

The girls found a shelter makeover contest sponsored by zootoo.com, an online community for animal-lovers and pet owners, and entered the CMHS. However, their parents and the Humane Society staff felt the competition might be too difficult for the small Missouri facility.

"When we first brought the contest up, people weren't too supportive of it and encouraged us to wait until next year because we had started so late," Burks says. "But Amanda and I never gave up."

Huhman says the shelter staff suggested they direct their efforts toward other fundraising methods. "They said they'd tried it before, and it would be better to focus on other ways to help them," Huhman says.

Luckily for the shelter, these girls weren't easily discouraged. The duo used local media outlets to spread the word and stood outside of Columbia pet shops to hand out fliers.

"Part of the reason the Zootoo campaign was so successful was because the girls were willing to think outside the box for ways to promote the shelter," says Leslie Gully, the shelter's volunteer coordinator.

When the girls originally entered the contest, the shelter was ranked in 859th place. But the persistent pair wouldn't stop. Soon the shelter had shot past its opponents to claim a makeover prize worth up to $1 million in construction services.

The shelter underwent renovations and replaced its once dirty, dilapidated dog kennels with new ones equipped with glass doors and clean floors. It expanded the cat room and added new cat condos. The shelter also installed an upgraded air circulating system that helps minimize odor and disease.

"It was really cool to see that we had made such a difference in the community and helped change a whole way of life for all of the animals," Huhman says.

Fundraiser

Amanda Huhman, 15

By Jaclyn DiPasquale

They call them the "Zootoo girls." Dog lovers across Missouri hail Amanda Huhman and her best friend Libby Burks, both 15, as heroes after the girls helped rescue and restore the aging Central Missouri Humane Society.

The girls have been supporters of the Humane Society for years and have been two of the shelter's most devoted volunteers. Huhman's love for the shelter began in third grade when her family adopted their first dog, Bandit, a beagle and basset hound mix. For Libby, it happened in second grade when she volunteered with her baby sitter. But in their time there, the duo had watched the shelter deteriorate.

"Libby and I had talked about how the shelter was really dirty and kind of falling apart, so we decided to help," Huhman says.

The girls found a shelter makeover contest sponsored by zootoo.com, an online community for animal-lovers and pet owners, and entered the CMHS. However, their parents and the Humane Society staff felt the competition might be too difficult for the small Missouri facility.

"When we first brought the contest up, people weren't too supportive of it and encouraged us to wait until next year because we had started so late," Burks says. "But Amanda and I never gave up."

Huhman says the shelter staff suggested they direct their efforts toward other fundraising methods. "They said they'd tried it before, and it would be better to focus on other ways to help them," Huhman says.

Luckily for the shelter, these girls weren't easily discouraged. The duo used local media outlets to spread the word and stood outside of Columbia pet shops to hand out fliers.

"Part of the reason the Zootoo campaign was so successful was because the girls were willing to think outside the box for ways to promote the shelter," says Leslie Gully, the shelter's volunteer coordinator.

When the girls originally entered the contest, the shelter was ranked in 859th place. But the persistent pair wouldn't stop. Soon the shelter had shot past its opponents to claim a makeover prize worth up to $1 million in construction services.

The shelter underwent renovations and replaced its once dirty, dilapidated dog kennels with new ones equipped with glass doors and clean floors. It expanded the cat room and added new cat condos. The shelter also installed an upgraded air circulating system that helps minimize odor and disease.

"It was really cool to see that we had made such a difference in the community and helped change a whole way of life for all of the animals," Huhman says.

Philanthropist

Pete Canfield, 10

By Asif Lakhani

Pete Canfield looks like just another Lee Elementary School fourth-grader. He has bright eyes, long, unkempt hair and a high-pitched voice that will make you smile. His favorite movie is Star Wars, and his favorite food is pizza. He's been riding his bike to school every day since the first grade and this February began commuting with a bike brigade, a group of 12 young Columbia cyclists who ride to and from three area schools daily.

So it was only natural that when Pete and his bike club saw a video about Zambulances — bike ambulances in Zambia that cycle to wounded individuals with first aid materials — the young riders decided to take action. On True/False weekend, they set up a bike spa station to clean festivalgoers' bikes in exchange for a $10 fee that will go to the Zambulance organization. It saves lives and creates meaningful jobs for cyclists and health care professionals in the African country.

The bike brigade has raised $233.12 so far, which is enough for a bike and some supplies, but the group is not done yet. For Earth Day, Pete and his friends will have another bike spa set up on the north side of Elm Street to raise more money for the cause. When he's told there might be 50 bikes to clean this time, he immediately does the calculations and yells, "$500!" A full Zambulance costs $656, and Pete can't wait to help in any way he can.

Graphic artist

Ben Chlapek, 26

By Blair Weaver

Ben Chlapek describes himself in one word: resilient. To him, it was all about being poor for a while, occasionally agreeing to do graphic design work that he wouldn't normally do to supplement his income, but not letting anything get in the way of him becoming successful.

This laid-back Liberty native owns the graphic design advertising company, Never Sleeping Design. The idea came while Chlapek was studying graphic design at MU; the name came from the long hours put into his design projects in the art department where he'd arrive at 10 p.m. and stay until 4 a.m. So when the company launched in 2006, Chlapek instinctively named his creation Never Sleeping Design. "I tried working at a firm for a while, and it was awful," he says. "So it was sink or swim."

Never Sleeping is a one-man operation; Chlapek designs wedding invitations, album art and more. The designs are humorous and edgy, alternative and illustration-based. Filled with character and flair, they're all screen-printed at Chlapek's home here in Columbia. "Pretty much anything I can come up with, I can print," he says.

With a passion for art, Chlapek has a fondness for music, too. He has belonged to a band since middle school, plays guitar and taught himself piano. Luckily, his company allows him to stay connected to music by designing concert posters and CD labels for bands that come through town.

Combining both music and art, Chlapek says he can see himself doing this for a long time. "It's kind of a surreal feeling of selling stuff that you make and making a living off of that," he says. "It's really weird that my kind of strange sense of humor or my sarcastic or depressing drawings appeal to other people and that they want to spend money on it."

Activist

Suzy Day, 26

By Jessica Krampe

Growing up, Suzy Day learned to be independent. Her family looked healthy from the outside, but her mom was incarcerated during Day's last years of high school. Day raised herself, ran the family business and applied for college alone. "I think some people's cups are half full, and they don't have the drive to fill the rest of the cup," she says. Her philosophy: If you can turn on the tap for someone, do it.

Now, as MU Women's Center coordinator since 2009, Day supervises a student staff of 24, runs the programming and oversees resources for gender education. She chairs the Love Your Body Committee and works with the Women's History Month Committee, both of which collaborate with the center.

Before coming here, Day was a part of Choice USA's Gloria Steinem Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C. There, a woman told Day she was the epitome of feminine strength. "You don't have to be masculine to be a leader," Day remembers her saying. "You can be feminine and 'femme' it up." Today, she carries the self-esteem she gained from that woman and works to pass it on to other women.

Day wants to bring fun to activism. "Not everything has to suck," she says. "People want to join things that are fun where they get something out of it." First, she has to open people's minds. Cue her mission to break stereotypes.

Day's goal is to increase awareness about the MU Women's Center, which starts with the realization that everyone has a unique identity. The first step can be as simple as adopting a positive self-image. "That feels like change to me," she says.

Youth of the year

Delijah Eckles, 18

By Melanie Lynch

After classes are over at Hickman High School, senior Delijah Eckles goes to the Boys and Girls Club across the street to volunteer. Since he became a member four years ago, he has become a regular volunteer and earned the Boys and Girls Club of Columbia Youth of the Year Award in 2009 and 2011. Eckles was also nominated for the Missouri Youth of the Year Award, and he competed against other nominees from across the state last week.

Shane Winter, resource development director of the Columbia Boys and Girls Club, says Eckles never gives up. "He's a bright guy," Winter says. "He has a lot of ambition in life." Eckles will graduate from Hickman in May and plans to attend Drury University in Springfield to study architecture and interior design.

The qualifications to receive the Columbia Youth of the Year Award are to have career aspirations, be in good academic standing, participate in community service projects and demonstrate good leadership qualities. Eckles has surpassed the required 105 hours of community service with a total of 150 hours. Although there is no GPA requirement, a student must have a good attendance record and aim for academic success.

"He has similar responsibilities to a staff member," says unit director Deronne Wilson. Eckles manages the front desk, checks children in and out of the club and greets parents. In addition, Eckles helps tutor kids during the club's Power Hour program and often coordinates activities, such as basketball and kickball games.

Wilson says Eckles is a good role model because he makes positive choices, is family-oriented, is polite and goes to church on Sundays. "He's a leader, not a follower," Wilson says.

Photographer

Parker Eshelman, 27

By Matt Drochelman

At MU basketball games, Parker Eshelman is a hurdle. As a ball goes out of bounds, MU forward Laurence Bowers flies over him to save the ball from sounding a whistle. This is what Eshelman loves about sports photography. He has a front-row seat for the action.

His determined nature keeps him glued to the floor and earns him prestige in the photojournalism world. Named photo editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune in February, Eshelman has seen his share of accolades. He won second place in the 2010 Pictures of the Year International Competition for his sports portfolio and a gold medal in the 2006 College Photographer of the Year competition for the same category.

"It's an international contest, and it was flattering to be able to build a sports portfolio off of daily work that I do here in Columbia," Eshelman says of the POYi award. "It felt like you can make good pictures anywhere."

Eshelman's new job as photo editor comes with heightened responsibility. He passes on what he has learned to the three other photographers at the Tribune, and though he says it's more of a desk job, he is still shooting and doing freelance assignments.

He started capturing life back in eighth grade on his dad's Nikkormat film camera. Later, he formalized his education at MU and graduated in 2006. Today, he still mentors photojournalism students at the university who are looking for input on their images.

For those looking to get better at photography, Eshelman recommends taking photos every day. "Use the viewfinder as your canvas, and paint your canvas with your eye," he says.

Let's just hope your canvas isn't filled with a 210-pound power forward coming right at you.

Musician

Eric Farlow, 23

By Melanie Lynch

Don't call Eric Farlow (aka Farout) a rapper. He doesn't like the label that associates him with stereotypical artists in that genre. "I'd rather people focus on the message rather than lumping me in with people who use that same style to create garbage and things that hurt the title of being a rapper," he says.

In the second-to-last track of his Universal Logic album, flavored with R&B, hip-hop and rap and recorded with the label Indyground, Farlow says: "You can try to label me, that's fine, but that isn't why I rhyme / I try to make my thoughts align with observations in my mind / I just happen to be rappin' them back to you in my own time."

Farlow graduated from MU last May with a bachelor's degree in business with an emphasis in computer science. However, he doesn't wear a suit and tie or carry a briefcase. Instead, look for a Sub Shop delivery guy with shoulder-length brown hair and a St. Louis Blues hat. Farlow goes by Farout and uses rap as an outlet for his ideas.

The St. Louisan got interested in rap when Eminem was a big name. "Whenever Eminem was doing his thing was when I really caught on to how creative hip-hop can be," Farlow says.

Today, Farlow's goal is to get to the point where listeners will hear his music and begin to think about the human condition. Farlow likes to give his audience positive messages in his work. The bigger themes he sings about are usually quieter and more subtle because those are the messages that will be scrutinized more.

Farlow tours across Missouri and out of state to perform. He tries to put on shows as often as he can fit them into his schedule. He wants to connect with his fans and entertain them. "If nothing else, I want to hustle up there," Farlow says. "I want to sweat. I want to make everyone feel like they're a part of this."

Drummer

Phylshawn Johnson, 28

By John Odenthal

The image most often associated with drummers is the Keith Moon-esque madman: wild, boastful and uninhibited. A quick sit-down with drummer Phylshawn Johnson would dispel that image. "Music is all I do," Johnson says. "I'm just a music nerd."

Johnson was introduced to music at her church when she was 6 years old, and it immediately became her passion. Her parents bought Johnson her first full drum set when she was 9. During high school, she formed her first serious band, a funk-based indie-rock group called Sounds from Grandma's Basement.

After the band broke up, Johnson pursued a new goal. In 2007, she enrolled in MU's School of Music, where she learned technique and took intense music theory courses. Johnson now teaches young musicians at Columbia Academy of Music.

On top of her duties as a teacher, Johnson performs and records with numerous groups that reflect her varied music interests. She drums for Mr. History, an experimental indie-rock group, and Violet Vonder Haar, a folk-inspired singer/songwriter, and shows off her chops with the MU jazz band. In 2010, she also released a solo CD, Soul Heart, which she wrote and recorded by herself over a three-year period.

Even when she isn't behind her set, she is involved with music. Johnson founded the indie record label Nation of Love in 2009. The label, still in its infancy, is in the process of signing talent, such as Kansas City dream-pop outfit Future Kings. She also serves as treasurer for Compass Inc., a nonprofit that provides educational opportunities for young musicians. Her goal for the group is to form a weeklong camp where both new and experienced musicians will learn the finer points of music theory and songwriting; the event will culminate in the performance of an original song.

"When your job and your art come together, it's not work anymore," Johnson says. "I don't wake up and say, 'Ugh, I have to play a gig today.' It's like, 'All right, I get to play a gig today.'"

Prosecutor

Adam Kruse, 27

By Lauren Omahen

Adam Kruse has made a career out of embracing equality, and his childhood relationship with his brother was the inspiration.

It's a tale of sibling rivalry: two brothers debating which NFL team had a better season and battling for control over the car radio. Despite their differences, they found friendship, and Adam Kruse found a career.

Kruse graduated from MU law school at 26. He interned with the Columbia Legal Department for a year and a half during school, and his experience landed him a job as an assistant prosecutor immediately after graduation. The youngest in his office, Kruse is humble about his accomplishments and shy when talking about his career. He has been working as an assistant prosecutor for about a year and a half, and his office handled 18,000 cases in 2010 alone.

It's not surprising that he enjoys the field given that he always fought for fairness growing up with his brother. For Kruse, the youngest of four, the relationship with his brother Nate was a close friendship with intermissions of rage. "We were always really competitive," he says. Kruse recalls when his brother persuaded him to switch rooms (Adam's was better) and agreed to switch back after a month — which never happened.

Kruse says the worst of it all was that his parents would punish both boys when he was picked on. "Don't get me wrong; I love my brother," Kruse says. "I always wanted things to be fair. I wanted to do things equally. My parents and friends always knew that about me."

Firefighter

Samantha Lamp, 24

By Blair Weaver

Samantha Lamp is a loyal firefighter. Her confidence might seem at odds with the fact that she is the youngest person in the Columbia Fire Department, but her instincts to care for the community are strong. As if firefighting were not enough, she is also the coordinator of the firefighter union's charitable work for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Out of 130 firefighters in the department, Lamp is one of eight women. She took a summer job for the Missouri Department of Conservation after high school and was inspired to get her Red Card Certification, a designation that allows her to fight wildfires. While attending MU, Lamp took a certification class with the Boone County Fire Protection District. She then tried out for the Columbia Fire Department and has been a firefighter for two and a half years. "I liked wildfires, so I figured I'd like structure firefighting," she says of the switch.

Not only is Lamp fighting fires, but she's also helping to raise money to send children with muscular dystrophy to summer camp. The fundraiser, called "Fill the Boot," happens once a year when firefighters from Columbia Professional Firefighters Local 1055 collect money for research and new and improved wheelchairs. She has been the coordinator for a year and helped raise $6,000 last year. Lamp's goal is to volunteer at the camp as a counselor.

She says the most rewarding part is helping those in need. "Whenever you truly help somebody and they're appreciative, it just makes you feel good," Lamp says. "Those kids, they can't help the disease that they have."

Jeweler

Mills Menser, 27

By Jordan Zirm

A man slammed his pearls against the jewelry counter. He wanted his money back and to return the earrings he had purchased because of a mix-up with a Buchroeder's Jewelers cashier. Owner Mills Menser told the man he could keep the pearls and his money as an apology for the inconvenience Buchroeder's had caused him. It's this type of customer service that Menser says has fueled his success.

Menser's adherence to the proverbial the-customer-is-always-right mantra grew from his longevity in the world of business. At 8 years old, he was often at Buchroeder's with his father, who owned the store. By the time he turned 18, he was working more than 40 hours a week.

"We wouldn't see him from 8 a.m. until well past 10 p.m.," says Scott Strawn, Menser's friend of 15 years.

His success with Buchroeder's is evident in multiple awards. The store was named the best place to find a ring in 2011 by Inside Columbia Magazine, and Menser was runner-up for the Columbia Business Tribune's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009. Menser has pinpointed his most popular products and bolstered the inventory depth of those items while also reinvesting in bridal jewelry, items he calls recession proof.

According to Menser, though, he'd be content collecting 25 cents for a cup of lemonade. It wasn't so much the flashy jewelry in the glass cases of his store that enticed him, but rather the dream of owning his own company. The large Rolex watch on his left wrist, however, might imply otherwise.

"My mantra of erring on the side of generosity with clients and employees is something that pays itself back tenfold," he says.

Police Officer

James Meyer, 26

By Asif Lakhani

Officer James Meyer always wanted to be a police officer who helps and protects citizens. He believes in his job, and it's easy to see. In 2009, he won the Columbia Police Department award for Rookie Officer of the Year during his time assigned to the midnight shift.

He grew up on a farm in Tipton where he acquired a passion for working outdoors and fishing. After graduating from Tipton High School in 2002, he moved here to attend MU. From 2005 to 2008, he was a correctional officer for the Boone County Sheriff's Department, and in return, the police department paid for him to attend the academy. He joined the staff in September 2008 and has been an asset to the department ever since.

"I would take an army of officers like him if I had them," says Sgt. Roger Schlude, who was one of Meyer's early supervisors when he joined the department. "He has a high work ethic and a very positive drive." As a rookie, Meyer assisted other officers, made few mistakes and distinguished himself in the force early, Schlude says. When Meyer isn't working, he spends time with his 20-month-old son, whom he sometimes doesn't get to see for days because of his job.

Despite being an intimidating figure (he says it's the uniform that does it), Meyer is a friendly, unselfish guy. Dealing with trouble is part of the job, but what makes it worth it to him is serving local residents and helping those who are brave enough to ask him. He also likes being able to wave at Columbians just to say hello. So next time you see him, send one back his way. Roger that?

Digital Artist

Lacey Micallef, 23

By Jessica Krampe

By day, she teaches 3-year-olds at Tiger Tots Child Development. By night, she's a GIF artist. Lacey Micallef designs Internet graphics as a freelancer, but her pixel art started as more of a hobby — a hobby that transformed into intense popularity on the Web.

A GIF file, which stands for graphic interchange format, is an image format for the Web that supports color and animation. After discovering the photo-sharing website dump.fm, Micallef started creating originals. Micallef makes her GIFs in Photoshop as 8-bit video game graphics and sticks them on top of real images or photos. These graphics are the blocky, pixilated images that most would recognize as Nintendo graphics.

She's quick, too, creating GIFs in as little as five minutes. But what's so cool about them? "It's the subtle movement in the GIF I love the most," Micallef says. "It totally changes the feel of the picture and the way it looks and feels and how you interpret it." Micallef's roommate Jenjira Knernschield isn't surprised to see that many of the GIFs are based on her interests. "She is such a food snob; she's a pizza elitist," Knernschield says. "It's like, 'Of course Lacey would make a food GIF.'"

Micallef uses Tumblr to publish her website, lulinternet.com, and the content she posts gets liked and reblogged. With 500,000 hits since January, it seems most of her stuff has found its niche. Vice Magazine provides just one example of her recognition. It posted a Feb. 10 article titled "GIFs are great" that highlighted Micallef's collaboration with Alexander Martinez, a photographer in California who discovered her work through her website. The series involves GIFs dropped on top of black and white photos. Picture Pikachu riding a wave of water shooting out of a champagne bottle. Micallef plans to dedicate an entire site to that series in the future.

Filmmaker

Sara Neitzert, 26

By Jaclyn Dipasquale

Few people can say Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen inspired their careers, but local filmmaker Sara Neitzert can.

"When I was younger, I was watching this episode of Full House, and in the credits I saw it was actually two people who played Michelle," Neitzert says. "It was like movie magic. I couldn't believe it was two people. That really sparked my interest in filmmaking."

Neitzert works as a real estate marketing coordinator and has channeled her passion for filmmaking into a rewarding hobby. "I wanted to keep filmmaking fun," Neitzert says. "When you're getting paid to do something, it comes with restrictions, and I didn't want that."

Neitzert placed second in the Gimme Truth! category of this year's True/False Film Fest with her mockumentary about Columbia's fictional competitive musical chairs team. She plans to invade the YouTube community next with a series of short films that have the spontaneous feel of an episode of MTV's Jackass, but more family-friendly.

Neitzert has experienced both highs and lows during her years as a filmmaker. Her favorite memories were made hanging out with crew members, whom she calls family. But her craft isn't all fun and games. The 12-hour days and tedious work are enough to make most people want to rip their hair out. However, she says moving to Columbia from California, where she studied film at the Brooks Institute in Ventura, has made her job much easier.

"It's such a pleasure to make films here because the community really wants to help out, where as in California it was, 'What can you do for me? What can you give me?'" she says. "Here, everybody asks, 'What can we do for you?' which I think has really helped us make higher-quality films."

Shot putter

Eryn Puett, 8

By Kelsey Carroll

Bouncing around Stephens lake Park in athletic shorts, Eryn Puett is easy to peg as a young athlete. What isn't as easy to see is that she's a nationally ranked shot putter.

The New Haven Elementary third-grader started track and field when she was 6 years old. Her mother, Tammy Puett, says it began as a way to help her with soccer. Today, it's one of Eryn's favorite sports.

At the end of the Blue Thunder Track Club's 2009 season, Eryn was messing around in practice and started throwing the shot put. Coach Camren Cross says she threw only 2 feet shorter than the previous national first-place winner in her age group — without any experience. She started training and placed third in the nation in the Junior Olympics last year.

Cross says he's eager to see Eryn mature as an athlete because of her competitive spirit. She once shoved past an older boy in a running event to get ahead. He says though most kids are there to run around and have fun, Eryn actually strategizes, a neat thing for him to see in a kid her age. Her goal this year is to throw 30 feet, but with the shot put weight increasing from 4 to 6 pounds as she moves up an age group, Cross says that will be difficult.

Eryn's parents aren't as concerned with winning as she is, but they try to motivate her to develop her newfound talent. Every night, they help her condition with push-ups. At the mere mention of these, Eryn groans and slumps her head like she does when she has to start her homework.

When asked if she'll continue to shot put in the future, Eryn pauses. "I guess that depends if I'm into it or not," she says.

Filmmaker

Randy Prywitch, 22

By Matt Drochelman

In seventh grade, Randy Prywitch made videos in the living room with his sisters. He has made progress since then. The MU senior now makes feature-length films with acting students from NYU and Loyola University and an actor from the Screen Actors Guild.

Prywitch made his first film, American Gothic, in the summer of 2008. The 99-minute dark drama about the heart of teenage suburbia first played in St. Louis.

In total, Prywitch has made three feature-length films before his approaching May graduation from MU. He will earn a degree in communications with a film studies minor. In his opinion, each has improved upon its predecessor. "When we shot American Gothic, it was a bunch of kids over the summer saying, 'You want to shoot today?' 'No, let's not shoot today,'" Prywitch says. "We always took it seriously, but we were never as prepared." In contrast, he says his most recent film, Loss for Words, a comedy about a struggling writer and his protégé, has a more refined script, stronger acting and better preparation.

The filmmaker says it's important to be realistic about your limitations. "Do something within your means," he says. "If you try to make a movie with big explosions and your budget is less than $1,000, there is no way you're going to make that look legitimate."

In terms of productivity, Prywitch has bested a few Hollywood hotshots. By age 22, M. Night Shyamalan and Ron Howard had each directed only one feature film, Praying with Anger and Grand Theft Auto, respectively.

Prywitch's most recent film, Loss for Words, will premiere at The Blue Note on May 4 at 7:30 p.m. If he continues on this track, even Hollywood blockbusters could become a possibility.

Entrepreneur

Corey Rimmel, 23

By John Odenthal

When some college students have time on their hands, they tend to be unproductive. Corey Rimmel started a business. Two years ago, Rimmel and some friends opened Hot Box Cookies on Broadway. The idea came to him while at Indiana University, where a friend showed him a late-night cookie delivery service. Positive that something similar would work here, Rimmel and friends began to research the idea and form a business model. Their diligence was rewarded when they obtained a loan from Bank of Missouri — no easy feat for a few 20-year-olds without prior business experience. Hot Box Cookies caught on quickly with the college crowd, and business has been steady ever since. Despite the success of his restaurant, Rimmel is by no means satisfied.

"I want Hot Box to become a staple in Columbia," Rimmel says. "I want it to be when people come to town, they go to a few places: Shakespeare's, Harpo's, Booches and Hot Box Cookies."

If owning a store weren't proof enough of his ambition, Rimmel recently launched a second business venture, Mizzmenus.com. Using licensed technology, registered users can place orders online from a number of restaurants in Columbia. It also offers exclusive specials, similar to The Add Sheet. At the moment, Mizzmenus.com is just weeks old, but Rimmel is working every day to spread the word.

With two businesses and a few weeks of class left before he gets his accounting degree from MU, Rimmel has a busy schedule. That doesn't bother him; however, and he has big plans.

I'd love to open up a new store, but right now, I'm just trying to improve operations," Rimmel says. "I modeled this place a lot like Domino's and Jimmy John's. I'm not at that level yet, but ask me again in a year, and we'll see."

Scientist

Rebecca Rone, 28

By Jessica Holdman

When you hear the word "collagen," Jolie-like lips might come to mind. But Rebecca Rone thinks about tissue regeneration and the opportunity to help people.

Rone is an engineer with a passion for the medical field. For the past three years, she has been focused on MU's biodesign fellowship. Biodesign creates tools used on or in the body to help better a person's quality of life. Through the fellowship, she became co-founder of two medical device companies, Adroit Motion and EternoGen.

Rone's interest in the medical industry developed as she worked toward her master's degree in engineering at the University of California, San Diego. A career fair at the school landed her an internship at a California company, where she helped design a post-operative device that uses cold water to reduce swelling after surgery.

As a member of an MU biodesign fellowship team, Rone helped pinpoint obstacles surgeons face while treating patients. After observing many procedures, Rone has developed ideas for two new products: a device for laparoscopic surgery, which uses tiny incisions and a camera to perform operations, and an EternoGen collagen used to regenerate tissue.

She is currently testing the new collagen and seeking investors to make it marketable. This collagen doesn't break down easily and could one day treat ailments such as burn wounds and heart disease.

Rone says the need for advances in medical technology drives her. "I can help the patient and help the surgeon," Rone says.

Urban farmer

Adam Saunders, 25

By Lauren Omahen

As the summer season nears, colorful gardens begin to bloom all over town, but Adam Saunders can help make your garden both look and taste good.

Saunders is a co-founder of the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture and has been advocating for the town to roll up its sleeves and start gardening in the backyard. Regardless of whether people choose to grow flowers or vegetables, the center staff thinks it's important to farm. "We have a fantastic farmers' market, and we want to contribute to that," Saunders says.

To help Columbians get started, a special backyard service provided by Saunders and the agriculture team will install landscaping in yards through the Opportunity Gardens program. The organization seeks to help low-income families and schools start their own gardens, complete with plants to suit their needs. Saunders is trying to demonstrate the viability of urban agriculture. He has been able to create jobs for the community and internships for students.

Saunders also grows his own vegetables in one of the urban garden locations and has opened up the opportunity for other local farmers to sell their fare at the farmers' market.

The son of two teachers, he has taken his inherent teaching skills to spread his knowledge to children through field trips that give kids a hands-on experience with gardening. "These workshops are a really great educational approach for young kids to learn about nature and plant science," Saunders says. "We would like to see it become more common and even become integrated into their curriculum."

Saunders is helping Columbia understand the importance of farming, one seed at a time.

Baseball player

Jonah Schmidt, 22

By Asif Lakhani

The first thing you notice about Jonah Schmidt when he steps onto the baseball field is his large frame. At 6'3" and 213 pounds, he's hard to miss. When he digs into the batter's box, his power speaks for itself. He was third on MU's team in home runs in 2010, one of which came during the final game in the series against Kansas. He also had a nine-game hitting streak that season. This year he's one of the team's senior leaders, ready to embrace his role.

That's Schmidt on the diamond. Off it, he's a loyal family member who's the second of three children and an equally talented football player — he received offers to play football for MU, Northwestern and Ohio State. He didn't want to leave Missouri though, and baseball is his first love. His parents and two brothers come over from his hometown, St. Louis, for every home game, and they spend time grilling on those weekends.

When he's not studying finance and economics, he enjoys playing Call of Duty on his Xbox and taking his 2-year-old yellow lab to the dog park — he spends a lot of time there, he says. He also volunteers at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Columbia, likes Southside's pizza more than Shakespeare's and enjoys karaoke.

If baseball doesn't work out, Schmidt jokes his backup plan is to move to California with some teammates and start a boy band. For now, though, he might just lead the seventh-inning stretch.

Airport manager

Andrew Schneider, 28

By Jessica Krampe

Hanging in the corner of Andrew Schneider's office is an airplane made of Pepsi cans. It's a biplane with wings on both the top and the bottom made by a World War II veteran from Montana. It's the perfect piece of aviation decoration for an airport manager.

Schneider became the new guy in town in November when he moved from North Dakota to start his job managing Columbia Regional Airport. Management is an umbrella term; Schneider deals with a lot. He makes sure the airport is meeting the standards of a commercial service airport, which are set by the Federal Aviation Administration. Security, airport construction projects, marketing and the budget process all rest on Schneider's shoulders.

Surprisingly, he never thought he'd work in an office. Instead, he thought he'd fly airplanes.

Schneider attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D., which is one of the most prestigious flight schools in the country. But his flying education started to stress him out. "They called it drinking out of a fire hose," he says. "They throw so much at you, and it's all new and hard to digest." It just wasn't fun anymore, so he jumped off the runway and graduated in 2006 with a degree in airport management.

Before coming here, Schneider managed Jamestown Regional Airport in Jamestown, N.D. Steve Aldinger, an airport engineer there, worked with him for about two years and says Schneider's outgoing personality is a natural fit for promoting and running an airport. And he's younger than your average manager — in this field, the average age is about mid-50s.

He brought his enthusiasm with him to Columbia, and he says he intends on staying for a while. Schneider has the plans to prove it. Future projects to improve the airport involve $25 million worth of work in the next three to four years that's ­intended to pave the way for new service.

Board member

Jonathan Sessions, 28

By Kelsey Carroll

Founding a technology business and indulging in Lil' Wayne probably aren't the most common activities for someone serving on the Columbia Board of Education. As the youngest member, Jonathan Sessions doesn't fit the profile.

Re-elected last week for his second term, Sessions advocates for the effective use, instead of the mere presence, of technology in schools. Instead of investing in upgrading computers, Sessions says the district has to start focusing on improving the infrastructure of the technology.

"A SMART Board is great if teachers use it effectively," Sessions says. "Otherwise it's just a really expensive chalkboard."

Manager of the Columbia-based IT company he started in college, Tech 2, Sessions is a self-taught programmer. He mostly consults, and he once had a marketing client request dog harnesses with cameras that would transmit live feed to TVs.

Sessions credits a lot of his friends and colleagues as his necessary support system and says their talents and advice have become invaluable.

Joking that he is an "emerging adult," Sessions says picturing his life another 10 years from now would be futile. For now, he's attempting to add the banjo and mandolin to the list of instruments he can play poorly. He does know, however, that he wants to continue adapting and growing. And that he can't wait for Tha Carter IV to come out.

Club manager

Aaron Stengel, 23

By John Odenthal

If you were to ask a club owner to hand over the reins of a property to a college student, he or she might laugh directly in your face. Then again, Aaron Stengel isn't a typical college student.

To say Stengel's rise to manager of Memoir was unexpected is an understatement. Late one night in 2010, he passed Vina Atluri, owner of Memoir, sitting on the club's porch during a slow evening. Eager for business, he asked Stengel to come in. The cosmos must have smiled upon Atluri. Stengel was not only the social chair of Beta Theta Pi but was also an advertising major. Atluri offered to let the fraternity hold a party at the club free of charge, and soon Stengel and his friends began showing up frequently.

Eventually, Stengel became the bouncer and was soon promoted to bartender. Six months later, Atluri began a move to Atlanta, but not before offering Stengel the opportunity to manage the club.

Stengel has put his advertising skills to work by rebranding the name through social media and clever promotions, such as the Drink Exchange, in which employees set drink prices in a stock-market fashion.

Handing the keys to a 23-year-old might sound like a disaster, but Stengel's work dispels that notion. "Anyone put in this position would have to step up," Stengel says. "There is so much liability and responsibility with selling alcohol that people might not think someone my age is capable of handling, but I want to prove them wrong."

With his passion for advertising, Stengel is eager to start his career and has applied for jobs in St. Louis and Chicago. However, his time at Memoir has made a mark on Columbia nightlife and his résumé.

Architect

Adrienne Stolwyk, 26

Kelsey Carroll

There aren't a lot of requests for straw-bale construction in Columbia, but as architect Adrienne Stolwyk continues to green light eco-friendly building projects, that might change.

The Kansas City native received her master's degree in architecture from Kansas State University in 2008 and landed a job at Peckham & Wright in Columbia the same year. Now the drawing enthusiast applies her care for the environment to her professional ventures.

Since moving here, Stolwyk has helped process three Leadership in Energy Efficient and Environment Design projects and is working on a fourth in Fort Leonard Wood. When she first arrived, there was only one building in Columbia with this internationally recognized green building certification.

One of the main purposes of producing LEED-certified buildings is to recognize energy efficient and environmentally friendly structures. Stolwyk helped build a straw-bale sauna in New Mexico with a project group and is particularly interested in that type of construction, which has been gaining popularity for the past 20 years.

Stolwyk recently volunteered her design skills for a project created by Centro Latino's director and her close friend, Eduardo Crespi. She says Crespi's vision for the Comedor Popular, or People's Diner, is to provide fresh meals and produce to the First Ward.

Stolwyk, along with her boss, colleagues from her firm and others, donated time to get building permits and draw the illustrations for Crespi and Centro Latino. She created a practical space to accommodate all the aspects of the plant-based diner and designed a kitchen partially visible from the dining area so customers can see how the food is prepared.

Because not everyone understands how straw-bale buildings are anything more than a "Three Little Pigs" reference, Stolwyk hopes that Columbia can adopt more green construction projects with alternative building materials within city limits so citizens can see first-hand how they work.

Entrepreneur

Ray Troy, 27

By Kelsey Kennedy

Bargain hunting can seem like a professional sport in tough economic times. Ray Troy combined this good-buy game with the convenience of online shopping with his website, nineapair.com.

Nineapair.com is Troy's first Internet business experiment, which is a retail site that sells off-brand sunglasses for — you guessed it — $9 a pair. After talking to web developers and reading books on e-commerce, Troy decided he needed to take action. "You can read about something, or you can actually do it, and they are two totally different things," Troy says.

It wasn't the merchandise that fueled his ambition, though. "I don't love sunglasses," he says. "I don't know anything about sunglasses — I literally just take them out of one box and put them in another box." To Troy, nineapair.com is about hands-on experience in management. He's learning about search engine optimization and dealing with web developers and wholesalers.

Troy wanted to try Internet advertising, so he and a friend launched goingoutrules.com, a social etiquette site devoted to the unwritten rules at bars. Visitors can submit and vote on rules and call out their friends for breaking them via Facebook.

As if these two sites don't keep Troy busy enough, he serves on the Board of Directors for Meals on Wheels, is a resident advisor for the MU Evans Scholars house and is getting his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering to top off his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering.

Although Troy is getting an advanced engineering degree, his plans for the future are still all business. Like with nineapair.com, what Troy sells isn't his main focus. Instead, he values the freedom provided by setting his own hours.

With such a diverse range of interests, Troy doesn't have time for traditional hobbies, but he shrugs this off, saying: "Life is my hobby. I'm doing what I like to do."

App creator

Mark Vaughn, 19

By Kelsey Kennedy

"I think it started with Lego sets," says Mark Vaughn, but the relationship between the childhood staple and his current work, building iPhone and iPad apps, might not be obvious at first.

The creativity he once expressed with Legos has evolved into app building today. Vaughn's Apple iPhone and iPad creations are merely a foundation for the business he wants to build in the future.

The creative outlet of Vaughn's youth shifted from building blocks to making and editing movies with friends, which sparked his interest in computers. Now a Columbia College freshman majoring in computer science, Vaughn uses a combination of Photoshop and computer coding to create games and apps for Apple users.

Two years ago, when Vaughn was still in high school, his uncle made a casual comment about how it would be cool to make an app. "I kind of took that to heart and was like, 'You know what? I'm going to try to make this happen,'" Vaughn says.

He hopes to share his future success through charity, and his passion for social issues translates to his work. One iPad app he created called Black Bee features wallpapers that are orange and black­ — the colors of abolitionists against modern-day slavery — one cause he's interested in.

Vaughn develops apps on and off during the weekends, but it takes him about three months to create one from start to finish. If he were to devote whole days to working on one, he estimates it would take about three days.

So far, Vaughn has created 12 apps for Apple, including strategy and music games. He also has a mental stack of ideas that he hopes will fund future entrepreneurial endeavors. Computer science might be his major, but business is his ambition.

Vaughn's favorite business idea right now is creating and marketing an organic energy drink with a beverage company called Flavorman. Vaughn estimates the cost of production at around $12,000, hence, his need for capital.

All Vaughn's future plans build off one another like a rising tower of Legos — the apps support the energy drink business, which supports his philanthropy — and they can all be traced back to a creative conduit and a casual comment.

Activist

Marcus Mayes, 26

By Jordan Zirm

It was country night in Knoxville, Tenn. Marcus Mayes and his high school summer track team were in town for a national competition and decided to go out. After opening the doors to a concert hall, they were bombarded by country music. The three black friends took in the sounds of Southern twang and the raucous line dancing and decided to plunge in.

The native Oklahomans broke it down on the dance floor with their cowboy-hat-wearing brethren — two groups of people from two different places all grooving together. It's Mayes' ability to bring people together as he did that night in Knoxville that led him to co-found Mizzou Black Men's Initiative in 2009. The organization is dedicated to increasing the 38-percent graduation rate for black college students.

When Mayes was a freshman at MU, he ended his first semester with a 1.75 GPA. His mailbox swelled with letters from the university threatening academic probation. Mayes banded together with a few of his track teammates in the same position, and they decided never to be in that situation again. He realized that the "brotherhood," a word he uses frequently, he formed with his teammates didn't exist for freshmen not involved in sports.

"Athletics is different from a lot of things because you are automatically going to get that team thing," Mayes says. To help young men outside athletics have a similar experience, Mayes helped form Mizzou Black Men's Initiative for incoming black freshman.

After joining in August, freshman member Kevin Boyd says the group has already benefited him academically and pushed him to become a leader.

"That's a person I can take advice from, and I know he won't steer us wrong," Boyd says of Mayes. "He looks out for us like one of his own — like we were his children."