Archive for : March, 2021

Winter Quarter- Blog #10

Share a positive experience where you collaborated with someone on a project that would not have been the same without their help and support.

When first coming into this program, I remember being nervous about what collaborating would be like with people I barely know, and how it would go in this virtual, Zoom format. In my first week of Fall quarter, I was assigned to a group with Becky Ravetz and Athena Sfikas to work on our very first coding project in Erik’s class. Not only was I getting thrown into the world of html and css, which I had no prior experience with, but Erik had a different design sprint for us to complete in class each week, and set the bar very high for us right off the bat. Working with Becky and Athena in those first 5 weeks of the quarter still stands out to me all these weeks later, because we balanced each other out so well. Athena brought an understanding of wireframing and was incredible at brainstorming and articulating her ideas. Becky had some prior experience with coding, and a natural knack for web design. I brought my knowledge of color theory and illustration to help us create our brand direction and mood board.

Beyond the skills we all brought to the table that made us an incredibly well-rounded team, personality-wise we also meshed. Working on timed design sprints every week, especially in the first weeks of a new program, was super intimidating, but with those ladies, we always found a way to put a positive spin on the situation, ensure we all felt supported, and ultimately have fun through the stress, while also creating a solid final product to show when our time ran out. I feel that another big part of why we worked so well as a team is that we knew we all share similar work ethics and values as students, so we never felt worried about the work getting done or about being honest with each other. We developed a sense of closeness very quickly, and trusted each other completely to hold up our ends of the work.

Aside from that first project we all collaborated on, they’ve become my two closest friends in the program, and we are a crucial part of each-other’s support systems as we all go through this journey together. We’re excited for the opportunity to work as a team again– we call ourselves “the dream team.” I can’t wait to see what our future collaborations will look like as the program goes on, and potentially even beyond the scope of this program! I know the three of us are likely to be tight long after we finish these two years at SCCA.

Winter Blog #9

“Discuss a moment from your experience when you feel a single decision changed the overall course of your career so far. This can be as recent or as far in the past as you feel is relevant, but really focus on a decision that YOU MADE, and not something that happened TO you. Additionally, please expound on whether this decision involved your passion, ignited your passion in something new, or is related to some other aspect of your life.

It’s weird to reflect on this today, as a year ago today was when I realized the seriousness of COVID-19 and went into a quarantine that I expected would last a few months. I won’t dwell on the pandemic, because I want to write about a decision I made, and not about what “happened to me” and so many other people when the quarantine started, but it helps lead me to the decision I made, so: I got laid off.

Before the pandemic, I was convinced that I could make it designing in the theatre industry. I feel like I still could, but when all the theaters shut down last March, and I lost all of my freelance prospectives and my full-time gig working in theatre admin, I couldn’t help but start to question things. I honestly, after a few months of reflection, I think I was finally realizing how hard of a path I had set myself on. I knew I wanted to be a designer, but I wondered if there are more stable, lucrative, and most importantly, relevant directions that I could head in.

My decision to apply to the Creative Academy happened very quickly. I knew that I wanted to further my design education and expand my options, and I also knew that there were a lot of technical skills standing between me and the career that I hope to have in design. As soon as I found SCCA’s website and studied the curriculum, I knew what I needed to do, and it’s reassuring everyday that so many of my peers made similar decisions or changed courses to be here, and that we’re all here at this time.