"Hey"
Who Am I?
One time, my roommate and I decided we should get crafty to kill some time before school started. We went to Hobby Lobby together and despite getting overzealous with fake flowers and stencils, we came home excited to create. I remember thinking that this was the first step in my journey to be more of a creative being. We turned on Amelie, my favorite movie, and went into our own worlds.
A few hours later, we emerged to find that we had created very similar pieces. There was only one obvious difference. Let's see, how do I put this? She is a bit of a deeper thinker than I am. Her canvas used a quote that said, "Be a master of what you do & say & think. Be free." Mine? "Hey."
Come on! I thought it would be a great accessory for the entrance to our apartment!
Anyways, this is me. I am ambitious, driven, passionate, and a little silly (just a little). I'm writing this bio after writing a 21-page literature review, so let me back up this statement with some evidence:
"You've got a spark to ya." (Robinson, 2012)
"Sometimes I think you are upset, and then I realize you're just concentrating. You're like the Clint Eastwood of interactive media." (Motley, 2012)
"You are crazy but in a good way." (Copeland, 2012)
History
With that being said, let's get to the good stuff. I graduated from N.C. State University in 2011 without a clear vision of my game plan. I jumped into an internship with Kimley-Horn and Associates in their firm-wide communications team. Mostly, I spent a lot of time writing articles for our intranet and updating the internal site. Of course, I did your typical intern roles (filing, cleaning, sending emails, taking notes during meetings), but you know what they say- patience is a virtue. After a few months, I became a Communication Analyst and I was in charge of the entire internal website, the merchandise store, client photography collages, organizing professional photography shoots, editing videos on an as-needed basis, and then there were the brochure designs, conference planning, and poster creation. Not bad for a first job, huh?
I loved the creative aspect of this role and wanted more of it. I wanted to be someone that people called on as an expert, but my skills were intermediate. So I spent two months studying for the MAT, writing essays, and gathering old teachers and mentors to write recommendations until I decided that Elon University's M.A. in Interactive Media program was the perfect fit. That's where I am now. Hey! And I could not be more passionate about this program.
Elon iMedia
I find it difficult to describe this program succinctly because it's so broad and encompasses the entire industry in 10 months! Yeah, I know! We have learned usability testing, theories of the use of the Internet, creating basic flash videos, discovered basic HTML and CSS, and explored the predictable yet vast world of visual aesthetics. And it's only been a few months. In the next few months, the projects will be tougher, we will travel to Portugal and work on a real client project (building websites, creating video promos, etc.), and then begin our capstone projects and elective classes.
One time, my roommate and I decided we should get crafty to kill some time before school started. We went to Hobby Lobby together and despite getting overzealous with fake flowers and stencils, we came home excited to create. I remember thinking that this was the first step in my journey to be more of a creative being. We turned on Amelie, my favorite movie, and went into our own worlds.
A few hours later, we emerged to find that we had created very similar pieces. There was only one obvious difference. Let's see, how do I put this? She is a bit of a deeper thinker than I am. Her canvas used a quote that said, "Be a master of what you do & say & think. Be free." Mine? "Hey."
Come on! I thought it would be a great accessory for the entrance to our apartment!
Anyways, this is me. I am ambitious, driven, passionate, and a little silly (just a little). I'm writing this bio after writing a 21-page literature review, so let me back up this statement with some evidence:
"You've got a spark to ya." (Robinson, 2012)
"Sometimes I think you are upset, and then I realize you're just concentrating. You're like the Clint Eastwood of interactive media." (Motley, 2012)
"You are crazy but in a good way." (Copeland, 2012)
History
With that being said, let's get to the good stuff. I graduated from N.C. State University in 2011 without a clear vision of my game plan. I jumped into an internship with Kimley-Horn and Associates in their firm-wide communications team. Mostly, I spent a lot of time writing articles for our intranet and updating the internal site. Of course, I did your typical intern roles (filing, cleaning, sending emails, taking notes during meetings), but you know what they say- patience is a virtue. After a few months, I became a Communication Analyst and I was in charge of the entire internal website, the merchandise store, client photography collages, organizing professional photography shoots, editing videos on an as-needed basis, and then there were the brochure designs, conference planning, and poster creation. Not bad for a first job, huh?
I loved the creative aspect of this role and wanted more of it. I wanted to be someone that people called on as an expert, but my skills were intermediate. So I spent two months studying for the MAT, writing essays, and gathering old teachers and mentors to write recommendations until I decided that Elon University's M.A. in Interactive Media program was the perfect fit. That's where I am now. Hey! And I could not be more passionate about this program.
Elon iMedia
I find it difficult to describe this program succinctly because it's so broad and encompasses the entire industry in 10 months! Yeah, I know! We have learned usability testing, theories of the use of the Internet, creating basic flash videos, discovered basic HTML and CSS, and explored the predictable yet vast world of visual aesthetics. And it's only been a few months. In the next few months, the projects will be tougher, we will travel to Portugal and work on a real client project (building websites, creating video promos, etc.), and then begin our capstone projects and elective classes.