My Time as an Art Major

Published 4 years ago -


Kyle Delorey, STAFF WRITER

“Where’s your next class?” a friend would ask me, “Founders” I would reply. This was usually my answer to this question throughout my four years at Assumption College. I often got the same reply to my answer: “There are classrooms in Founders?!”

As I finish up the first half of my final year at Assumption College, I plan on, hopefully, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design with a minor in Marketing. The Graphic Design program at Assumption is incredibly small. In fact it is one of the smallest programs at the school, as I believe I can count all of the Design majors on both of my hands. As the school has progressed towards becoming a University in the upcoming year, I have felt as though the art program at Assumption has been forgotten, and for what reason? In late 2017 the school decided to make a bunch of budget cuts to a variety of programs at the school, including but not limited to: the language departments, the theology department and of course, the art department.

This led to a very tough sophomore year for myself and my peers in these departments, as many of us were forced to at least consider a transfer. By my junior year, a decent amount of my classmates had gone to different schools to pursue their aspirations in Studio Art or Art History, as the school made majoring in these two subjects a difficult feat. However I, along with most of the Design majors, stayed put. I spent the next few years bitter about the cuts, losing some of my favorite professors in the process. I would often think to myself, “How can a Liberal Arts school cut the arts?” Of course, I understand that these decisions were not directly correlated with the committee’s presumed disdain for the arts, but more so due to the fact that the major was one of the smallest at the school. Regardless, the decision did not sit well with me, as I felt essentially forgotten by the school. Despite all of this, I, along with the rest of the 2020 Design majors, pushed on and proceeded to grow with one another. Our anger at the budget cuts fueled our art, often giving us the inspiration we needed when in a pinch. While we lost some along the way, I am proud of our class’s Design majors.

Looking back at my four years in the art program, it is astounding how much my peers and I have grown. I still remember being “forced” into the Graphic Design One course. It was part of the then newly added “COMPASS Program” which linked two classes together to build familiarity among the new class of first years. I remember worrying about the course because I had no experience with Adobe programs prior to coming to Assumption. This fear quickly faded as my class was greeted by our professor, Lynn Simmons. Professor Simmons has a passion for design and teaching that I have never seen before. Her energy and quirkiness kept the class fresh and exciting, while her project assignments were always creative. Professor Simmons was the first one to tell me that I should consider a major, or at least a minor, in the arts. From there it was history. I fell in love with design; the order, the color schemes, fonts and everything else. As I sit here writing this article I have one class left to complete in the major, the senior seminar course. While I have definitely enjoyed some courses more than others, each one has taught me a different vital skill to have in my toolbox. The team of professors in the program are also much like the courses, each teaching me a different set of valuable knowledge. With such a small major, it was very easy to become close with the professors in the program.

As an art major I am no stranger to the looks and smirks one gets when talking about it. From an outsider’s view, the major may not seem as practical as a business, science or education degree, but design is seemingly everywhere. Every book cover, magazine page, website or app was meticulously created by a team of designers. I constantly remind myself of this every time that creeping fear of life-after-college sets into my head. While I am still not sure of what I exactly want to do with my major, I am confident that I will find something. This is advice that I want to give to every graduating senior in the class of 2020. We are all at different places in life, some further than others, and that is okay. At the end of the day, we all get the same degree from the same school as the final class of Assumption College. So please, enjoy the rest of the time we have together as Greyhounds, and if you are looking for a last minute elective for credits, take Graphic Design One!

Kyle Delorey, a senior, studies Graphic Design and Marketing. He is a staff writer for Le Provocateur.

 

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