Current Position / Employer: Design Generalist Contractor

Degree with Department Affiliation and Graduation Date: MFA in Design, 2017

Thesis Title: Navigating the Pixelated Waters of Voxel Bay: Designing a Virtual Reality Game for the Pediatric Patient-Player Experience

Tell us what you are doing professionally at the current time.
I am working as an independent contractor, which right now is mostly data visualization for academic scientists.

What inspires your creativity today?
I do try to keep up with films screened at animation festivals and make record of the best ones. Watching and re-watching animation and discussing it with others is very inspiring for me. Often, I feel inspired by cinematic moments outdoors watching animals, changing seasons, water or light.

Tell us one “Aha” moment from your experience of studying, researching or working at ACCAD.
There were too many to pick just one. I feel that I was learning and experiencing new things basically every day for three years, it was just a time of transformation.

What would you say to your “Undergraduate” or “Graduate” self about studying at Ohio State now that you have graduated?
I would tell myself to view the time at grad school more as time set aside for myself and with that in mind, follow all the explorative impulses you have both regarding creative work and career paths.

How could Ohio State better prepare people for a career that combines art, design, digital media and new technologies?  
This is a hard question to answer because I’m not an educator, I feel that in my personal experience OSU was great preparation.

What most helps you to balance life and career expectations? How do you relax or de-stress?
This is something I am always thinking about! I try a lot of different things and am still figuring out what works best for me. One thing I think is important is making sure I have goals outside of work and that I make measurable progress on those goals.

Tell us a fun thing (or something) most people don’t know about you?
I keep a red cherry shrimp colony plus one mystery snail. They’re very fun to watch, easy to care for, and I try my best to aquascape the tank.

What would an alternate career choice be for you if you decided to do something other than art and design or animation?
As a generalist I feel I can still try out working on almost anything I want to so I’m very satisfied with that. I do think some of the specialist jobs in the animation and game pipelines (writing shaders, set dressing, lighting design, rendering) are very appealing and could have been a nice path to try out as well, especially because of the experience of working alongside other people who fully understand what you do.

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