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University
Education
I Studied Abroad!
Combining my Broadcast Journalism major with a Spanish language minor provided me with a unique set of skills that have been highly useful in my career. I’m a good designer in two languages. My fluency in Spanish opened up training opportunities for me with Spanish-speaking design students in their own language. One of my favorite training jobs was at “La Raza”, a Spanish language newspaper that was part of the Chicago Tribune companies, a long-term client of mine. As an Adobe-certified instructor fluent in Spanish with a background in journalism, I was the only contractor considered for the job.
I’m originally from St. Louis, Missouri. I graduated from Maplewood-Richmond Heights (M-RH) Senior High, where I was involved in lots of nerdy extracurricular activities. I joined the marching band, but decided I wanted to be a cheerleader so I quit and joined the squad. But I still played clarinet in my school orchestra and was chosen to go to state competitions. I spent nearly all of my free time with my nose in my books, so I got excellent grades. In my sophomore year, I discovered I had a knack for languages and took German. But I didn’t see much use for it in America, so I switched to Spanish and fell in love with it.
I attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. I majored in Broadcast Journalism and minored in Spanish. My broadcast journalism major included courses in writing and reporting for radio and television, broadcast news production, media law and ethics, and multimedia journalism. This major prepared me for a career in broadcast news, television and radio production, digital media, and related fields. But I discovered that I enjoyed graphic design a lot more than writing, so I pursued it as a career.
When I got the opportunity to spend my junior year in Spain, I studied Advanced Spanish Linguistics. My minor in Spanish language studies complemented my broadcast journalism major by providing me with strong language skills and a cultural knowledge that I found extremely valuable in an increasingly diverse design landscape. My Spanish language minor included courses in grammar, conversation, phonetics and syntax, and composition. I also took courses on Spanish and Latin American culture and literature.