Meet & Greet
- gillianalexander
- Sep 29, 2016
- 3 min read
Hello and welcome to the first of many posts on my blog created to track my time in Sheridan College’s Web Design post-graduate program!
As a graduate of the Visual Merchandising Arts program, I have found myself at a strange crossroad at a relatively young age where I have lots of ideas and various skills to offer but lack experience or a sense of direction to guide myself into a career I would thoroughly enjoy. I decided after my graduation that I wasn't finished with school yet and so I applied to the Web Design program, hoping to return to Oakville to my friends and new home. Now that I am here, I find myself having to introduce myself quite a bit. Here are the basics before we get down to business: I had always imagined myself following a path into graphic design, in fact, I had planned on going to university to study it after I graduated VMA. I am addicted to social media, though I don’t post very often; I prefer to watch from the sidelines. While I don’t have many hobbies per say, I like to dedicate my free time to my loved ones beyond anything else, and naps. Finally, if I am grumpy, I am best uplifted by food (specifically McDonald’s).
Now that the introductions are out of the way, we can talk about my first few weeks in the Web Design program.
Four weeks ago, I walked into a computer-less classroom to a small group of people that I would discover were my few classmates for the next 8 months. Over the course of the last few weeks, we have gone through a whirlwind of what seem like crash courses on HTML, CSS, javascript, and more. It’s been absolutely thrilling to see myself already understanding what looked like a foreign language before September and even being able to write some code myself. In addition to this, I have already learned more than I expected to about my own computer and the way this fascinating technology functions. What I’ve found interesting so far is that of our 7 courses this term, only 3 involve consistent computer use. Beyond what we’re learning in our classes, I have realized that another great place to learn is from my fellow classmates. Being the youngest in the program, I have years of experience in so many different fields at my fingertips. We each took 5 minutes to show a few pieces from our portfolios in week 2 and it really revealed the talent amongst us all. I showed a few pieces from my graphics and my styling portfolio on this very website, as well as the Levi’s Waterless window display I completed for my final year in VMA. During these quick presentations, I was able to see the variety in our group, with students coming from near and far, from Oakville to India. There are graduates from Pratt, graduates in costume design, and people who have been in the field for 20 years looking for a refresher. Some that stood out to me included Anya, who mainly specialized in art installations, UC, whose animations nearly made the entire class cry, and Carlos, who has two tropical apartments that we’re hoping to field trip to. Apart from seeing everyone’s work, I felt more closely connected to them as designers as I discovered that I am not the only one who struggles with meeting a client’s wants when they don’t match our own design. I also learned more about everyone as a person and their passions, like Alex, who cares a great deal about animal conservation and Amy, who addressed the alarming declining bee population. All in all, it was a great eye opener and really proved why each and every one of us made it through the portfolio stage and into this program. I can’t wait to see what these next few months bring us all.
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