Education

School has been one of the most important aspects of my life. I have always taken it very seriously, seeing education as one of the only ways to really advance in life. I believe that knowledge is a basic need to human life as it fulfills our curiosity. I always have questions on my mind and value learning new skills and information.

I made my way to James Madison University in the Fall of 2006. I chose to apply to the School of Media Arts and Design (SMAD) at JMU in the spring and got accepted over spring break. I held the belief that if I was admitted to SMAD, then I was going down the right path. I am currently a Junior at JMU and still pursuing a SMAD degree. My concentration is interactive media. I chose this avenue because it is a way for me to get into a good career market, while at the same time express myself creatively. My main interest is the design aspect, but I have the technical knowledge as well. I am pursuing a minor in art because I want to learn as much about the aesthetics of design as possible. I believe that I inherently have a good eye for design, but I want to study a variety of perspectives because I know that not everyone shares my taste in design.

Background

I am originally from Tennessee, I lived there 15 years of my life and I consider it to be my home. I lived with my aunt for most of my life, from 8 to 18. After she graduated from college, I was 15, we moved to Virginia so she could pursue her career. Living in VA changed my life dramatically, but I feel that it has molded me into a better person. I have not had the easiest life, but I do not believe that life was meant to be easy. I believe that it is meant to teach us. Perhaps I have had it harder than some people, but I know that there are people who have had much worse experiences than I have. I am so grateful for all that I have been blessed with and that I have come away from the hard times in my life having learned something and feeling like a better stronger person. I do not believe that this would be true if my aunt had not sacrificed part of her young adulthood for my wellbeing. She is one of my heroes and I do not know what I would do without her.