I grew up in an environment where academic success was heavily defined by test scores and grades. Because of that, I often felt like I wasn’t smart enough to succeed. Yet even then, I was always drawn to creative projects and design. It wasn’t until college that I realized creativity could become a career, not just a hobby.

In May I graduate from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts within the School of Media Arts & Design. SMAD gave me a broad education across multimedia platforms, storytelling, branding, and digital design. More importantly, it showed me that there are many different ways to think, create, and succeed. Now, I get to spend my life bringing ideas to life through design, and that’s pretty exciting.

I love to travel. I’m 21, and I’ve been to 22 countries; new experiences are what life is made for.

I once won a chili contest with a bowl of water and one corn kernel, if that tells you anything about my persuasion skills.