Why Design?

My entire life, I always loved art.  Weather it was drawing on paper or designing my name a million times, to using “Paint” and “Kid Pix” on my elementary school computers, I always loved to create things.  When I was entering my freshman year of high school, my school got a brand new Mac Lab. These new shiny computers were something that I really wanted to try, so I signed up for classes in which the room would be used.  Two of my first classes were Graphic Design and Digital Photography. On the first day, I really didn’t know much about Apple computers, and knew that I had a lot to learn. I always knew what I wanted to make, but in the beginning had trouble using programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to make them.  This was definitely something that discouraged me, mostly because I knew exactly what I wanted to create but was unable to due to my lack of skills. With a lot of time, dedication, and meeting with my teacher during my off periods, I began to quickly progress my understanding the programs and really enjoy working in them.  Next thing I knew, I was taking at least one Graphic Design or Digital Photography class every semester for the remainder of high school. As the years went by, I became a lot more confident in my skills and began entering contests that my teacher would tell the class about. I spend a lot of my free time working on things for school clubs, clients, or county-wide contests.  I really enjoy that being a Design major allows me to make people’s thoughts or ideas into art that can be displayed or send a message to my audience. When having to decide what I wanted to major in in college, I knew that I definitely wanted to do something involving my passion. After talking to my parents, they told me to do something that I am good at, but more importantly something that I really love to do.  I knew immediately that Graphic Design was the thing that I hoped to pursue in college. I love that this major gives me the chance to continue creating and how much it has taught me since my days working in “Kid Pix”.