The Team: Cameron Hoopes

Sorry.... I have been so busy with school and preparation for our expedition... I have not had time to post my biography yet. Nevertheless, I believe that our pre-departure preparation and hard work will lead to a successful trip as well as establish a sustainable program for VSU SIFE students for years to come.

A little info on me:

Currently, I am a senior Marketing and International Business major and I completed a minor in Spanish last year. I have been studying Spanish since I was a freshman in high school, and I am excited that I will be able to apply what I have learned to a real world application. This will be my second trip to a Spanish-speaking country. In the Summer of 2008, I did a five week study abroad program in Sevilla, Spain. I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience about Spanish culture and the language. What I learned on the trip has given me confidence in my ability to converse in the language as well as critically think and accomplish any task or maneuver around any obstacle due to the language barrier and cultural differences. I am just a baby in SIFE compared to everyone else. This is my first semester involved in the program, and my only regrets is that I did not join sooner. I have met some amazing people that are in SIFE as well as the people who we taught and worked with. I am also involved in several honorary fraternities. My favorite one is Golden Key because we get to give tours of our beautiful campus to prospective freshman.

Like a majority of VSU students I am from the greater Atlanta area. I grew up and have lived in Snellville, Georgia all of my life. I grew up playing sports all of my life and played for my high school's basketball and football teams. During my senior year our football team was nationally ranked and set our school's record for the most wins in a season with 14 with our only loss coming in the state championship to Nikki's school Lowndes Co. High School. Somewhat ironic... Don't you think.... Every fall I get up to about 2 or 3 UGA football games with my family, but I still love and cheer for VSU's football and basketball teams. I chose Valdosta State because I wanted to live with my brother and play football. Unfortunately, injuries got in the way of playing football, but VSU became the perfect fit for me. I had original intentions of transferring to UGA, but I decided that graduating from VSU was the right call for me.

I don't have any prestigious accolades, however, I did win an eating challenge eating a five pound chimichanga at the "home of the original chimichanga," The El Charro Cafe in Tucson, Arizona.

The Team Jeff Shipley

I'm excited about this project and foresee good things coming out of this collaboration between Hotel El Gringo Perdido, the Small Business Development Center and the VSU Students in Free Enterprise.
Just a little bit about me:

Jeff Shipley has over 25 years of management experience in various industries, such as manufacturing, food service and wholesale/retail sales. Jeff holds degrees in Finance and Accounting as well as a Master of Business Administration. At the Langdale College of Business, his responsibilities include the four computer labs, all faculty and staff computers as well as all printers and other peripheral equipment. In addition, he provides audio/visual support to functions and activities that are held on the North Campus of Valdosta State University. After serving several years as a technical advisor to Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), Jeff was named a Sam Walton Fellow and became one of the faculty advisors to the student organization. His areas of responsibility include advising the SIFE sponsored, student run business, Business Bites, event photography, video production and webpage maintenance. Jeff also serves as technical advisor to another student organization, Beta Alpha Psi, Mu Zeta Chapter. Jeff is a former volunteer with the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and served on the Board of Directors of the Valdosta/Lowndes County Humane Society as Treasurer.