An Iowa State Cyclone for Life

            Being from Iowa, one always has to ask themselves: am I a Hawkeye or am I a Cyclone? From a young age, I was raised to be a Cyclone. Most of my family has at least started their college career here, if not graduated from here.  I will be no different, although it wasn’t really the fact I was born a Cyclone that made me proud to go to Iowa State.  It was what I learned about design, here at Iowa State, which has shaped my career path.
            Iowa State seems to be known for Agriculture and Engineering but one of its best kept secrets is its Design Program. Iowa State is one of the few colleges in the Midwest with a CORE Design Program where all design freshmen spend their first year learning about 2-Dimensional techniques, 3-Dimensional strategies, and the historical/cultural influences of design. As someone who wants to make art for the rest of her life, these classes proved to have a huge influence in my life. One class in particular stood out among the CORE program, which was my learning community class. This class taught new students about each of the seven design majors: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design, Industrial Design, Graphic Design, Integrated Studio Arts, and Community Regional Planning. While learning about the different design majors, my eyes were opened to the possibilities of design. I had once thought that design was a form of organization and art was a way to make the world more beautiful, but in actuality they are the same thing. What architects and landscape architects do is make our surroundings more beautiful.  Similarly graphic designers and community regional planners make layouts beautiful, whether with cities or websites.

The learning community class wasn’t the only class where I learned that design was more than just organizing. In my studio classes, each project taught us freshman how each major accomplishes its task. For example, I learned how interior designers need to do research to find the right inspiration for a room they want to design. They also have to know how to sketch out ideas so clients understand what they want to do with the space, like architects and graphic designers. Another example is how graphic designers have to experiment with huge varieties of picture placements, page layouts, and font types before the piece is perfect. All of these examples were taught through different projects, which provided me with a variety of personal artwork to place into my professional application portfolio.

Now that my first year is over, I can say without a doubt I am proud to be a Cyclone. I never really understood the extent of Iowa State’s Design Programs until this year.  Had I not made the choice to come here, I would have been ignorant to other forms of art and design I had never known existed. This is why I know I want to design, and that’s why I am proud to be a Cyclone.

This scholarship is sponsored by CenturyLinkQuote.com.