{"id":450,"date":"2012-09-09T13:39:27","date_gmt":"2012-09-09T18:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/?p=450"},"modified":"2018-08-14T11:33:59","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T16:33:59","slug":"sophomores-discuss-goals-purpose-of-year-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/2012\/09\/09\/sophomores-discuss-goals-purpose-of-year-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Sophomores discuss goals, purpose of year ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/files\/2012\/09\/2012Sophsorientationcrop1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-460\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/files\/2012\/09\/2012Sophsorientationcrop1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/files\/2012\/09\/2012Sophsorientationcrop1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/files\/2012\/09\/2012Sophsorientationcrop1.jpg 432w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Joined by faculty from every major, sophomores gathered at Discovery World September 6 to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the Sophomore Experience, frame questions and goals about their majors and focus, and meet four alumni, who advised them:<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Embrace what you excel at, regardless of whether it is specifically tied to your major<\/li>\n<li>Creativity, and a creative career, are intensely valued in the workforce<\/li>\n<li>The sophomore year creates friendships for life with people who will call on your strengths and see you through your weaknesses, whether you are a transfer student or a continuing student<\/li>\n<li>Engage with your faculty \u2013 they are some of the best teachers you will have in your life<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Neil J. Graham \u201909 (Industrial Design), who works at <a title=\"Flux Design\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thinkflux.com\">Flux Design<\/a>, a company founded by, and employing, MIAD alumni, said during his sophomore year, he wanted to be the best person in drawing in his major. \u201cFuture employers will hire you based on your expertise, knowledge base, skills and your Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, so open yourself to whatever interests you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His work at Flux is so varied; it allows him to use the skills of spatial planning in addition to the creating, fabricating and installing of objects. Projects include designing and building the interiors of Swig, Water Buffalo and Smokeshack restaurants in Milwaukee; tables for the Lynden Sculpture Garden; point of purchase displays for Valentine coffee roasters; furniture sets for DCI Marketing\u2019s new 3-D technology center; a sculptural gate for Milwaukee\u2019s Hilton Hotel; and participating in a design\/build process from the ground up for Grafton\u2019s new Rock Bottom Brewery.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan Hart \u201908 (Communication Design) who transferred to MIAD as a sophomore from a state school \u201cnot knowing anyone,\u201d advised students to understand that what they think may be a waste of time in the year ahead will have a clear value their junior and senior years, and beyond. Using himself as an example, the successful author and illustrator of &#8220;<a title=\"Steel Rainbow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.steel-rainbow.com\/\">Steel Rainbow<\/a>,&#8221; also advised students \u201cto go outside their major\u201d and embrace the creativity that is all around them.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Brooklyn Henke\" href=\"http:\/\/www.coroflot.com\/BrooklynHenke\">Brooklyn Henke<\/a> \u201909 (Painting) began her studies at MIAD thinking she would major in Illustration, then Drawing and finally Painting. Now a graduate student, she stressed the importance of the friendships and supportive community that help \u201ckeep you going when you are feeling lost and uncertain.\u201d They will \u201chelp you push on, and be there when you struggle and fall down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like her peers, Henke stressed the importance of a creative career \u2013 sharing her ability to retain her identity as a fine artist while maintaining a freelance practice that has resulted in painting for a wide variety of places, including theaters, galleries, warehouses, bars and the <a title=\"Hotel Metro\" href=\"http:\/\/www.radiomilwaukee.org\/initiatives\/make-milwaukee\/brooklyn-henke-murals-makingmake-milwaukee-2012-week-9\">Hotel Metro<\/a>. Henke is also known for having painted the Milwaukee Public Museum\u2019s 125<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary mural, which she began during an internship as a MIAD student and continued the summer before her senior year.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian Gilling \u201910 (Communication Design), who transferred from a state university, also came to MIAD not knowing anyone, intimidated by the reputation of MIAD students and \u201cnaturally shy.\u201d \u201cThrough time and especially the critique process, I got to know everyone, and among my best experiences were my friends, their honesty, and the opportunity to do great design with great faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Concerned at first that he didn\u2019t have a job at graduation, Gilling began submitting work to packaging and design websites and zines. The recognition and work he received for doing so included being named by <a title=\"HOW magazine\" href=\"http:\/\/www.krop.com\/adriangilling\/\">HOW magazine<\/a> as one of 16 creatives to watch in 2012. He slowly began freelancing, taught at MIAD and is now working for a larger advertising agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSophomore year is a great year to define where you want to go.\u201d As he told the students, his second most viewed project on his <a title=\"Behance\" href=\"http:\/\/www.behance.net\/adriangilling\">Behance<\/a> network is a project he did his sophomore year!<\/p>\n<p>Following further discussion of purpose with faculty chairs, the students continued their conversations in small groups with the faculty representing their major.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joined by faculty from every major, sophomores gathered at Discovery World September 6 to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the Sophomore Experience, frame questions and goals about their majors and focus, and meet four alumni, who advised them:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.miad.edu\/parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}