Sarah is the voice of FOCUS, and by that we mean that she is the loudest person on staff. Her heart for college students grew after she became a Christian as a student at Collin College. She started out in college at UNT studying theatre, and then left there in search of something different, swearing to never go back. The Lord had other plans in mind, and He won her heart and sent her back to be a part of planting UNT FOCUS two years later. After a few beautiful years in Denton, she moved to Arlington to be a part of planting FOCUS at UTA. Mav up! Sarah can be found mall walking and eating cinnamon pretzels with her husband, Brandon (who is almost as funny as she is), singing show tunes, or laughing at her own jokes.
Austin graduated from the UNT. He has a love for Film and his extensive knowledge of movie quotes make their way into about 50% of his conversations. Also, about three times a week, Austin goes out to a local park to enjoy his favorite sport, Disc Golf. Austin will firmly defend the validity of using the term “sport” to describe Disc Golf simply because it’s the only one that he’s ever been any good at. However, Austin’s greatest passion is sharing the Love of God with every person that he interacts with and couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity to do that on college campuses.
Kelly Schlitz is a native Texan and graduated in 2010 from UT Dallas with a BA in Arts & Humanities. Her husband, Matt, writes software and hails from the Great White North (Wisconsin). Kelly enjoys many leisure activities typically associated with grandmothers, such as gardening, crocheting, sipping tea while reading classic novels, and going to bed before 10:00 pm. Fun fact: Kelly names her pets after people she admires and respects. She currently shares her home with Sojourner Truth “Soji” Schlitz, a 60-pound mutt who can clear a coffee table full of glasses with a single wag of her tail.
After being raised on the inner-city streets of Garland, TX, Jalen and his street cred took their talents to UT Dallas, where Jalen pursued a degree in Mathematics, the discipline of the hood. While Jalen pursued math, God pursued him, leading him into the FOCUS community while he was a freshman. By the time he graduated from UTD, Jalen had developed a deep love for sharing God’s love with college students, which God used to lead him into full-time campus ministry. Jalen feels so privileged to be able to spend his hours ministering to UT Arlington students while remaining faithful to his secondary passion, dessert.
Emily Umstead is a recent graduate from UTD with a Bachelors in Psychology. When she isn’t busy listening to new music, podcasts, or on YouTube, you can find her hanging out with people and laughing way too hard. Emily has felt called to the FOCUS Apprenticeship since sophomore year and is so excited that the day has finally come. She can’t wait to see what God has in store and to get to serve a community that has blessed her life so much.
