This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tampa chapter.
Meet this week’s Campus Celebrity, Spencer Haberman! This Freshman is a Film, Media Arts/Advertising, and Public Relations major along with a minor in New Media Production. He is not only actively devoted to his studies, but is an active brother in Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity. Don’t let his year in school fool you though, because Spencer has taken advantage of so many opportunities that some of us only dream of.
Spencer is a California native and is enjoying his time in Florida, although he says “he isn’t far enough away from home”. Like most of us, Spencer fell in love with UT the moment he stepped onto the campus. He does admit he misses his friends, family, his dog James Franco and, especially his cousin Ella, but he absolutely loves being in Tampa.
In his short time at UT, Spencer has achieved a lot. As the Public Relations and Advertising Chair for TKE, he is always creating new ways to get the word out about TKE. Currently, he is in the process of building the website for his chapter from scratch. He is also a Student Assistant in the Film Cage, in the Communication Department. Along with all of that, and his school work, Spencer is constantly working on new film projects. His most recent project was filming all of the digital elements to be used in the upcoming play, “All New People”, with the Jobsite Theater Company, in residence at the Straz Center for Performing Arts. He was the Head Student Producer and Director of the student crew. The play will premiere at the Straz Center this summer.
Even before looking at colleges, Spencer knew he had a passion for film and wanted to make a career from it. When asked why he chose film he said “I like film and storytelling. No one chooses film because they look up to someone; you choose to film because you love storytelling.” He has had the opportunity to attend UCLA’s Film Camp, a camp taught at the UCLA campus by the same faculty who teach at the university. Aside from that, Spencer has had the opportunity to be on various sets behind the scenes including Entertainment Tonight, America’s Best Dance Crew, The Insider, CSI, King of Nerds, Wipeout, Big Brother, Dr. Phil, and many red carpet award shows. Many of Spencer’s films have been recognized and have received awards. His short film, Happiness, which filmed for Campus Movie Fest this year, received Viewer’s Choice as well as the Wild Card, which means it will be shown in Hollywood over the summer. He also had two of his high school films featured at the Oxnard Film Festival, where his film “Appearance v Reality” received second place!
Along with his many film accomplishments, Spencer holds the title of being an Eagle Scout. While at the National Boy Scout Jamboree Shakedown in Virginia, he started a protest to preserve the National Jamboree roadside patch trading, which was going to be taken away. Once the news got out about his protest, it spread through the camp like wildfire. Soon, thousands of scouts were out roadside trading patches with one another. Spencer has always loved trading patches, from the first one he traded at Boy Scout camp Emerald Bay with a scout from the Sam Huston Area council in Texas, to his stacks of binders that hide in his closet filled with all his hundreds of patches he has traded during his years in scouting. Along with traveling the country to 20 plus states, Boy Scouts even gave Spencer the chance to go international, but be careful if you travel with him, he does not listen much and you might get a call asking to bail him out, but he will always drag you on an adventure you will not soon forget.
In what free time Spencer has, you can find him skateboarding, and when he’s at home, snowboarding. In fact, skating is one of his favorite activities. Altough Spencer loves going to school in Tampa, he surely misses home, mostly because of his car, his dog, and his five year old cousin Ella. He is constantly on Face Time with his cousin and will do just about anything for her. In fact, the majority of his Spring Break was spent searching all over Disney World for the Elsa princess dress from Frozen to take to her.
Even though Spencer is a film major, he does not like watching movies, especially if they were filmed before his time and not filmed in HD. “I ain’t got time for that,” Spencer said. He has never received a grade lower than a B, which would explain how he made the Dean’s List his first semester at UT. Among his talents besides filming and designing websites, Spencer is also fluent in American Sign Language. “My oldest cousin Adam, who is deaf, refused to read my lips and I got tired of yelling at him, thinking he would finally hear it. I gave up and took classes to be able to communicate with him,” Spencer told Her Campus UT.
While his specific major and minors are always changing, Spencer does know for sure what he wants to do in the future. His ultimate goal after graduation is to do graphics for Michael Bay, and be a part of Industrial Light and Magic, a division of Lucas Film Ltd. Both of these companies have created movies such as Transformers, Pearl Harbor, and Star Wars.
We will for sure be seeing more of Spencer in the future. Whether it’s through filming and web design or through his fraternity, you will definitely see his name in lights or on the big screen.
How could you not love those puppy eyes?