开元棋牌

With a passion for not only graphic design but for sharing knowledge with others, teaching was a natural transition for Leslie Cullen, chair of the Graphic & Interactive Design program at Mount Wachusett Community College.

Cullen started working at the Mount part-time in the evenings shortly after graduating from college. When an opportunity to take on a full-time position became available, she applied for the job.

Her interest in graphic design was prompted by a high school course she took on the subject. She was immediately interested in the field and knew she wanted to pursue graphic design as a career. Cullen is now instilling that same interest and passion for graphic and interactive design in her students every day.

Cullen says that what makes her love her job is 鈥渟eeing the students progress from my first design theory class all the way through the end to portfolio prep — seeing the transition and change of a student who didn鈥檛 know much, to somebody who is a skilled graphic designer.鈥�

鈥淭his passion I have for teaching is about the students,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭he student body and population is so diverse and they all come here with various skill sets and various needs. The beauty of my job is I get to design through them as their art director in the classroom.鈥�

Cullen explained that the Mount鈥檚 program in graphic and interactive design is different than programs at other colleges because 鈥渨e teach the software as well as the concept development tools at the same time in the classroom.鈥� While other programs may teach concepts only, at 开元棋牌 鈥渢he students are learning Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat, as well as the web design tools of HTML, CSS, and Javascript. That hands鈥� on approach, coupled with ideation, is our most important feature,鈥� she said.

Students who are considering a major in Graphic & Interactive Design should be creative and capable of multi-tasking, she said, but 鈥測ou don鈥檛 have to be a great artist to be a great graphic designer.鈥� Her most successful students are those who 鈥渢hink in interesting ways鈥� and 鈥渓ove to explore things and try new ideas.鈥�

The students in the Graphic & Interactive Design program speak highly of their professor. One student, Bao Truong, said, 鈥淵ou know she cares, and she wants you to be responsible and put effort in and I think that teaches you a lot.鈥�

Cullen is invested in her students鈥� educations. 鈥淲orking with Leslie Cullen 鈥� she鈥檚 an intense woman! She really knows what she鈥檚 talking about鈥� she helped me a lot with a lot of stuff, with Photoshop and Illustrator, she helped me a lot with that, fixing up my projects, and then since she鈥檚 also my advisor she helped me with picking out a lot of my classes,鈥� said Kristen Gaudet, another Graphic & Interactive Design student.

Gaudet added that all the professors in the Graphic & Interactive Design program make sure their students have both the technical and creative skills they need to excel in any career opportunities that await them in the future. 鈥淭he professors really love it, and it helps me get more involved because I know they鈥檙e enjoying what they do,鈥� she said.

About the Author: Aisha Schor is a Media Communications major at 开元棋牌. She is a contributing writer for the News Center.