Can you imagine moving from Park City, Utah to Davenport, Iowa? Yea, I can’t either, but St. Ambrose graduate Tara Wellman can. When she was 15 years old, Wellman and her family picked up and moved in order for her dad to take over the family church.

After graduating high school, she went to a local junior college and spent her the next two years not knowing what she was going to do with her life. Wellman then transferred to SAU in hopes of finding her passion.

She knew that she loved telling stories and writing, but she was not sure what she could do to fulfill her dreams. Her mother advised her to look into journalism and that is how it all began.

Wellman worked for Mediacom as a freelancer through her last two years of schooling. When she graduated in 2010 with a double major in Journalism and Radio TV, they offered her a hosting job on their new show “Behind the Scenes.” Wellman took the job and started covering all types of stories in the Quad Cities area. From then on, she knew that freelancing was what she wanted to do.

She was very shy growing up so working for Mediacom really started to push Wellman out of her comfort zone and make her challenge herself. Being a freelancer has really challenged her because everything is on her. She has to find the business and make sure everything turns out great or she is the one who failed.

“I am so grateful for the people that did push me to step outside of my comfort zone because I would not be where I am today without them,” Wellman says.

Wellman still freelances for Mediacom, but she also freelances for many other companies. One of her favorite jobs is working for US Figure Skating. She is the producer for the post game show and she absolutely loves it!

“During the 2014 Olympics I was able to work with US Figure Skating in Stanford Connecticut and was their graphics producer,” Wellman says.

Not only did she get to cover the Olympics, but one her companies online broadcast coverage won an Emmy. Wellman has done it all, but her favorite thing about her work is getting to meet all sorts of new people that turn into friends. She has been where we have been and she believes you can achieve what you want.

“My advice to students is to fully invest yourself in whatever you want to do.” Wellman says. “Also, don’t be afraid to do things differently and to step outside of the box.”

Besides being amazing at what she does and getting to go on awesome trips to cover stories, Wellman has the one thing she loves the most. Her dog Louie.

“Louie is my favorite thing in the entire world and I wouldn’t trade anything for him,” Wellman says.

Next time you are discouraged or don’t think you can make it big, just remember Wellman and how she came from SAU, just like you.