To the Honorable Esteban L. Bovo, Jr.
My name is Deon Bent and I am opposed to the Deregulation of Registered Interior Designers in House Bill 5005, and I ask that you take Interior Design off the list.
As a current student in the Interior Design profession, I realize that the importance of an education is more prevalent than it has been in past years. To be able to practice something you are passionate about takes hard work, dedication and perseverance all which when combined together produce success! But if this Bill will be passed, no longer allowing me to practice Interior Design, I will be devastated. To hear someone say that all the years of schooling is a complete waste of time and that it is unnecessary to attend schooling for Interior Design will affect not only me but thousands of students around me. I wanted to attend schooling for Interior Design. It was MY choice to take up a profession that I knew would cost me money and time to receive my certifications, but I was willing to do that. I was willing to take that time to become even more passionate about it.
I will also be extremely affected by this deregulation becasue of student loans. Interior Design school is not cheap. For me to take out a $100, 000 loan because I am that passionate about my future means a lot. I do not want to have to waste this money because my profession was deemed "incapable" of being regulated. You will be destroying my dreams of becoming a licensed Interior Designer because regulating this profession does not seem important to you. But on the other side, every other profession IS regulated. Education and practice is what a profession is composed of. As a consumer you trust that the product or services that you will receive are being regualted and worked on by someone who is a professional in the industry! I cannot stress enough the impact this bill will have on many people including me!
In closing, I ask that you please re-consider your stand on the issue of Interior Design and realize the demolition of one profession is not worth the pain or misery of someone's dreams.
Deon N. Bent
Interior Design Student
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
These design shoes were made for walking...and that's just what they'll do...I'm excited just to see what firm my shoes will take me to !
"So what are you going to do after you're done with Interior Design school?"
This question is extremely popular with me lately seeing as I only have 2 more quarters til I exit the design school world that has been my home for the past 2 1/2 years. Two more quarters til I embrace the knowledge I have gathered over the years and walk out towards a firm that one day might hire me full time. This is a scary thought somewhat although it is coated with excitement and nerves because hey, who isn't a little bit nervous in school?
If someone were to ask me 2 years ago what
was I goi
ng to do? I might have retorted back with "Own my own show on HGTV" But know the the knowledge base that I have obtained its more like I have several different avenues to explore and I am excited for all of them. Going to Interior Design school was one of the best decisions that I could have made because there is more than one career path that I can take with this major. So I guess now might be the appropriate time to answer..."What ARE you going to do next?"First off, it is hard to say exactly what you want to dive into especially if you do not work anywhere in the field. But after taking classes and learning about everything that goes into design, I can say that I have narrowed it down to a few areas that I would be happy working in.
1. Commercial Design: Hospitality
I am real
ly excited about hospitality design..mostly Hotels, Restaurants and places similar to that make up. I like the fact that there is some creative realm in this type of design and it isn't too limited. i would really like to brand some concept of design and have that be my mark in the design field, but of course, that comes with years of practice and years of training so I am looking forward to that.
2. Automotive Design
Not until recently, when I was in a class titled 'Professional Practice for Interior Designers' did I realize that this avenue of design was available to Interior Designers. I have a love and passion for cars. I love the interior and I love being able to customize a car...but what about other aspects of the vehicle that no one seems to pay much attention to? The dashboard is one of the most important components of the car and if this small detail became unnoticed in design, then it probably would make some consumers unhappy. I believe that knowing the anthropometrics of design and ergonomics of design could be a viable resource when designing a cars interior. I would love to dive into this field and start designing vehicles better.
These are just the top two avenue that I would like to branch out in as soon as I graduate from The Art Institute of Tampa in September. Of course, I will be interning between then and as soon as I get the approval from my director, I will post where I have my internship!
It is exciting to see that the journey it took to get from square one to almost getting ready to graduate has been more than successful. I am so excited to see the next step.
Honestly, I have to say that I am going to miss this school though. The people in the Interior Design department especially. We started out each individually on our own paths, but as time has passed, we have slowly merged into one collaborative path all on the same journey. Some of us might have taken U-turns, some of us might have speed up, broken down on the side of the shoulder, but all together we have walked hand in hand, side by side spending priceless moments together on this journey. Although I knew this day would come, I knew that 3 years from when I started, I would have to go out on my own path again, this time I have the backing and support from an entire community of soon to be designers. I can't wait to hear the success stories from everyone in about 5-10 years.
Thanks for all the support you have given whether indirectly or directly. It's more than just having a helping hand, every so often. But it is the time that we take to breathe, relax and enjoy us. Then back to study time "in the zone" of course. I am excited to see where I am led next!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Legislation Letter to Representative Esteban L. Bovo Jr.
Rep. Esteban L. Bovo Jr. Chair
204 House Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1300
Dear Representative Esteban L. Bovo Jr.
I am writing you in support of the importance of the regulation of Interior Designers as a design profession in the State of Florida. As a student in design school, I cannot stress enough the importance of regulating Interior Design as a profession. We are taught in school that upholding the professionalism of Interior Design is important. As an interior design student, we are taught that attending school and receiving a degree is not just so that I can decorate, but so that I can be accredited in the field and protects the health, safety and welfare of the general public. Many people do not fully grasp the role of Interior Designers and believe that they are simply decorators, hence dismissing the need for proper legislation. However, I have taken classes that have prepared me for working in the professional world. These classes include work on Commercial Interior Spaces and I have learned codes and regulations from the International Building Code (IBC) that are used worldwide in the professional design industry.
The definition of Interior Design according to the National Council of Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) is as follows: " Interior Design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment. These solutions are functional, enhance the quality of life and culture of the occupants and are aesthetically attractive. Designs are created in response to and coordinated with the building shell and acknowledge the physical location and social context of the project. Designs must adhere to code and regulatory requirements, and encourage the principles of environmental sustainability. The interior design process follows a systematic and coordinated methodology, including research, analysis and integration of knowledge into the creative process, whereby the needs and resources of the client are satisfied to produce an interior space that fulfills the project goals.”
I appreciate you taking the time to fully understand our profession.
Sincerely,
Deon Bent Interior Design Student
Thursday, March 3, 2011
LOCKE VS. SHORE has risen again! We need your help!
The Department of Business and Professional Regulations has placed 29 professions and vocations on their list for deregulation. Interior Design is one.
Being a Registered Interior Designer allows you to:
- Work in your business, in other businesses , or as a consultant to others on projects that are non-residential in use, or also residential in use;
- Be identified by your Professional License for pursuit of local, state and Federally-funded projects, with your own business , as a collaborator with other design professionals or as a recognized design professional team member employed within a professional practice firm;
- Prepare documents for submission for permitting;
- Also do “interior decoration” since while it is exempt for licensure there is an EXCEPTION where codes apply, and those codes or requirements by the Building Code, Accessibility Code, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Administration for Healthcare, the Hotel and Restaurant Commission or a myriad of other agency or code requirements that relate to specific- use projects. Florida considers that when codes apply to these items in their application in specific project types, the selection and design work must be by Florida design professionals, including painting specifications, wall coverings, floor covering, and surface mounted lighting, and artwork, since there are codes or requirements of some type relating to all these items;
- Select and prepare plans for all furnishings including non- movable furnishings such as filing systems, work stations and systems, whether the project work requires permitting or not.
Not having registration as a Registered Interior Designer would mean you:
- Could NOT do any of the items above;
- Could be employed by architects to work on non-residential use projects OR
- Could do residential–use projects only;
- Could sell furnishings, or products as part of ‘furthering a retail sale” as long as you did NOT provide plans with that sale that included installation of non-movable furnishings (file or shelving systems fall in here) or work stations/systems;
- Could NOT provide any selections for projects that are not residential-use only if any code applies to that product for its specific project-use, and that includes offices, healthcare facilities, gyms, schools, hotels, restaurants, etc.
Think about all this. Let me know if your State’s identification of you as a design profession is meaningful to you. This is YOUR profession and title and recognition as a design professional at stake, and all that means in terms of business, opportunity and project work. Today and for the future.
And what can you do first? We need you to WRITE a letter within the next 5 days, and it must be in Tallahassee by March 11--regarding the importance of the continuation of the regulation of interior design as a design profession in Florida. Write to:
House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, Attention: Rep. Esteban L. Bovo, Jr., Chair, 204 House Office Building, 402 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1300.
IF one of these subcommittee members is also your House Representative, please write to them also, at the same address with the subcommittee name below their names:
Rep. Kenneth L. Roberson, Vice Chair
Rep. Joseph Abruzzo
Rep. Larry Ahern
Rep. Frank Artiles
Rep. Steve Crisafulli
Rep. Eric Eisnaugle
Rep. Tom Goodson
Rep. Mia Jones
Rep. Jeannette M. Nunez
Rep. Jimmie Patronis
Rep. Darryl Ervin Rouson
Rep. Irvin Slosberg
Rep. Cynthia Stafford
Rep Dana D. Young
I am including the document we used and left behind with the representatives which provides some points you can use in your letter as to what interior design regulation in Florida means. An important part includes education and that there are more than 1200 students in interior design programs now in Florida who expect to be able to graduate and once they satisfy the State’s requirements, become DESIGN PROFESSIONALS IN FLORIDA. There are at least another 1200 or more who have graduated and in the process with the same expectations…expectations that started with their paying for an education in Florida in an interior design program. And others also who moved here from other places who were not in Florida schools. A lot of very concerned students and former students, and parents, and spouses, etc. who have expectations about careers that de-regulation would totally change.
And URGENTLY NEEDED: While in past times you may have considered that, as a member of a professional interior design organization, contributions were being made on your behalf to support IDAF and its mission to monitor and protect regulations, and to fund its most important expense, our excellent lobbyist, Ron Book and his team. That is not necessarily true now and we ask you now to become a member of IDAF, and provide the urgently needed support at this critical time. Please go today and send a check to IDAF, 2106 St. Johns Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32204, or go to www.idaf-fl.org, to “Membership and Support” and the left side of the home page.
This subcommittee will hold a hearing MARCH 15 Tuesday (time unknown now) and we need everyone who can be there to be there. Please put this on your calendar and let me know if you will be attending---so important, and it is not necessary for you to speak, but to be counted and stand up in support of continued Interior Design regulation in Florida.
When we have significant issues such as this to combat, our costs will be greater and we need you efforts and your financial support more than ever and NOW!
If you have any questions, please let me know, or a member of the IDAF board. We need you!
Janice R. Young FASID, FIIDA ,RID, FL #000229
IDAF Past President 2011, 2012 , and Legislative Liaison
2106 St. Johns Avenue
Jacksonville Florida 32204-4419
T 904-384-0018 F 904-389-5152
E janice@janiceyoung.com
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
HGTV...so *easy apparently a caveman can do it!
This logo has been a part of 
television as long as I can remember being in design school. Everyone associates HGTV as some spectacular bedazzling show that takes someones ideas and in a weekend, or few days comes up with this awesome concept and VOILA! You have this crazy awesome room. Don't even think about functionality or whether or not it fits the program statement for the project. As long as it looks pretty, is well maintained and has all the bells and whistles associated with decor and decoration, then eh no biggie. YOU CAN ALL ACHIEVE THIS IF YOU ONLY BELIEVE !!
Such false hope and false advertising. I beg to differ about the whole yeah I believe that because I saw it on TV I am capable of creating this dream...this vision in my head and it will work! There is a lot more than just decoration. Picking out fabric and paint colors is just a small part of Interior DESIGN. The media is partly to blame for the misconstrudness of what we as Interior Designers do. I feel that it is our duty to inform the public of our actual job description and not leave it up to HGTV or any other media to make us seem insignificant in this world.
I happened to be watching HGTV this past week and there was a show called Designed to Sell. Basically there was this couple who wasn't sure why their home wasn't selling. It was a beautiful home with all the necessities needed to sell the home, but yet they were concerned as to what was wrong with their home. The "design team" from this show came into the house and started tearing the house apart, There were a few problem areas that could definitely be taken care of. There was a room with a deep blue wall that needed repainting, there were old pieces of furniture that could be renovated by slipcovers or getting small fabric makeovers. Throw Rugs could be removed, etc. MINOR details that were easily replaceable. Tell me how this design team spent $2,000 on this house. "renovating" the space. WHAT??
I was soo annoyed with the structure. They bought all new lights, paint, new furniture, new drapery, new cabinets, new EVERYTHING! Which was not necessary. My favorite part of the house, a fireplace with an aesthetically pleasing brick wall was COVERED UP by white paint. The designer claimed that this would make the fireplace a "focal point." Instead, the fireplace faded into the background because the walls were the same exact color as the fireplace and the only way you would know that the fireplace was there was if there were logs burning. I highly disliked that decision to take away the fireplace brick wall. This made me feel so appaled as a designer. They weren't using a design or creative aspect to make the space better. They covered up all the good design in the space.
The general public loves this and shows like this and takes those ideas that they see on HGTV and makes it seem as if oh I can buy some paint and make a fireplace and make a room look better because so-and-so from Blah-de-blah says a lil bit o paint fixes everything. There is no research behind these decisions. They are chosen because it looks good and that is not reason to
make major life decisions such as creating a fireplace in a home. Lots of research needs to be conducted as well as knowing building codes in a home or even a commercial space before you can go ahead and design anything. Plus, the general public is not knowledgable of the behind the scenes work such as the schematic planning, the code reviews, the floorplan and the revisions that must be submitted just to name a few.
I would say that having HGTV around has given more attention to the field of Interior Design. But instead of standing around clueless to the reputation we are given, we can take this oopportunity to educate the public about the correct definition on Interior Design and why Interior Design is "not so easy a caveman can do it!" (Unless of course that caveman was educated and knew exactly what was going on!)
television as long as I can remember being in design school. Everyone associates HGTV as some spectacular bedazzling show that takes someones ideas and in a weekend, or few days comes up with this awesome concept and VOILA! You have this crazy awesome room. Don't even think about functionality or whether or not it fits the program statement for the project. As long as it looks pretty, is well maintained and has all the bells and whistles associated with decor and decoration, then eh no biggie. YOU CAN ALL ACHIEVE THIS IF YOU ONLY BELIEVE !!Such false hope and false advertising. I beg to differ about the whole yeah I believe that because I saw it on TV I am capable of creating this dream...this vision in my head and it will work! There is a lot more than just decoration. Picking out fabric and paint colors is just a small part of Interior DESIGN. The media is partly to blame for the misconstrudness of what we as Interior Designers do. I feel that it is our duty to inform the public of our actual job description and not leave it up to HGTV or any other media to make us seem insignificant in this world.
I happened to be watching HGTV this past week and there was a show called Designed to Sell. Basically there was this couple who wasn't sure why their home wasn't selling. It was a beautiful home with all the necessities needed to sell the home, but yet they were concerned as to what was wrong with their home. The "design team" from this show came into the house and started tearing the house apart, There were a few problem areas that could definitely be taken care of. There was a room with a deep blue wall that needed repainting, there were old pieces of furniture that could be renovated by slipcovers or getting small fabric makeovers. Throw Rugs could be removed, etc. MINOR details that were easily replaceable. Tell me how this design team spent $2,000 on this house. "renovating" the space. WHAT??
I was soo annoyed with the structure. They bought all new lights, paint, new furniture, new drapery, new cabinets, new EVERYTHING! Which was not necessary. My favorite part of the house, a fireplace with an aesthetically pleasing brick wall was COVERED UP by white paint. The designer claimed that this would make the fireplace a "focal point." Instead, the fireplace faded into the background because the walls were the same exact color as the fireplace and the only way you would know that the fireplace was there was if there were logs burning. I highly disliked that decision to take away the fireplace brick wall. This made me feel so appaled as a designer. They weren't using a design or creative aspect to make the space better. They covered up all the good design in the space.
The general public loves this and shows like this and takes those ideas that they see on HGTV and makes it seem as if oh I can buy some paint and make a fireplace and make a room look better because so-and-so from Blah-de-blah says a lil bit o paint fixes everything. There is no research behind these decisions. They are chosen because it looks good and that is not reason to
make major life decisions such as creating a fireplace in a home. Lots of research needs to be conducted as well as knowing building codes in a home or even a commercial space before you can go ahead and design anything. Plus, the general public is not knowledgable of the behind the scenes work such as the schematic planning, the code reviews, the floorplan and the revisions that must be submitted just to name a few.
I would say that having HGTV around has given more attention to the field of Interior Design. But instead of standing around clueless to the reputation we are given, we can take this oopportunity to educate the public about the correct definition on Interior Design and why Interior Design is "not so easy a caveman can do it!" (Unless of course that caveman was educated and knew exactly what was going on!)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Green Design or just Green with Envy?
Sustainability.
When you hear that word, normally the word following after it is green. But green what? What do those two words mean exactly? I know that green is a color in the rainbow and that it is the color of nature. Perhaps that is what sustainability means...Hmm Sustainability is the color of nature and the way that nature provides us with great healthy products...THEREFORE I as an American citizen will strive to buy only products with GREEN on the LABEL!!!! Whooo I am green and I am sustainable.
Sadly, that is not the definition of sustainability, Many people though were probably shaking their heads at my skewed definition of green sustainability up above. You might have heard this debate going on at your local grocery store:
Wife: Honey, will you grab the kitchen cleaner?
Husband: (after staring at long aisle of cleaning products) Uhhh, okay! (grabs first bottle of bleach, Clorox, Mr. Clean etc...shoves it in the cart and walks away)
Wife: (glances in cart and gasps reaching in gingerly to take out forbidden non green product)
WHATTT! Why did you get Clorox? I said get cleaner!!!
Hisband: But this IS cleaner like you said!!!
Wife: It's not the green kind....
Husband: They didn't have a green kind...
Wife: YES they do...everyone has a green kind
Husband: But clorox is WHITE, not GREEN?!
Wife: (sighs) LOOK! Clorox came out with green works..its safe and clean AND the liquid is green...See we are going green!!! AND now we are going to get a Brita water filter because we are no longer getting plastic water bottles...We are going GREEN GREEN GREEN!!!!
That is an example of a skewed perspective on what green and sustainability really is and why it is so important to understand the principle behind this terminology.
The definition of Sustainability is as follows:
"Meeting the needs of today, without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
This defnition was created in 1987 by the World Commision on Environment and Development. This means that almost 25 years ago, people were thinking about how our environment was going to be affected today without even knowing the future. It is not a surprise that thinking about going green hasn't been around for awhile. Even before that in school we were used to hearing the three "R" s : REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE! Those are key components to becoming more environmentally friendly and also thinking about how that effects your future generations.
Some people however do not truly understand when they say 'going Green". As I mentioned before, there are a lot of companies that will take the term Green, and turn it into something that is not even relevant to the actual term. This is otherwise known as greenwashing. Pretty much washing your brain with the word GREEN and that hypnotical illusion forces you to think that if it says green, it really is...
And people believe this? Yes, unfortunately they do. Think about how many people you know say that they "try" to be more green but it is just easier to repurchase something than to use it again. A prime example of this are plastic water bottles. It is just so easy to drive your hybrid car over to Wal-Mart, grab a few cases of water, and be on your merry way right? But think about all the costs that are involved in this process.
For one, some companies are saying that they produce 30% less plastic in their water bottles. GREAT EXCELLENT! Let's buy this brand. But do you really believe that their water is that much safer and that much cleaner? Everyone knows the brand Coca-Cola. They are the producers of the water Dasani. Oh Dasani! Sounds elegant and sophisticated right? Well did you know that they are just filling their tap water in PLASTIC bottles that aren't deemed eco-friendly? Exactly a clever way to fool the American people into thinking its going GREEN when in fact it isn't. http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2010/05/05/greenwash-of-the-week-sustainable-brands-2010/
There is however one corporation that is making sure that people know the good benefits of understanding Sustainability and that is the United States Grreen Building Council http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx
They have tried to incorporate LEED into understanding going green and sustainability. Their definition of LEED can be found here: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988
They are commited to educating people about the positivity of promoting sustainable products, sutainable buildings and maintaining these buildings in the most environmentally friendly ways.
But it is not only up to major corporations to be sustainable and green. We have to practice these standards as well. Just because a few major companies are doing it does not leave us home free and exempt from assisting the environment. We should do our part, by starting in our own homes and researching these companies to find the real sustainable products and not become greenwashed by "labels" and celebrities endorsing these brands.
I don't know about you but I prefer to have my future generations have their needs met already before they are even born and also have them living in a much more sustainable world because of the efforts that I put in to make sure they are set for their future ad the future of generations after them.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
My journey was not my own....
Many people are familiar with the faces that they see every day whether at school, in the bank, or just driving; but no one really knows their true stories. You know the reason why they are here. What brought them to this point in their lives. It is funny to see and hear their journeys and see that they were brought here through multiple tunnels all leading to the same exit path. (okay, really not trying to be too philosophical haha) But here is my journey..the path to Ai!
Growing up, I was always surrounded by family. The eldest of five children, an ever expanding family that always showed feelings and emotions and never hid anything. I always knew that after high school was college, then a degree, then working, marriage, children, family etc. That was the process. Doesn't change. But for me, it was a bit different. I was born and raised in Boston. Lived there for 13 years and was taught the Northern way of living from an early age. My parents are not American. They both grew up in Jamaica relocating to the states in their early teenage years. For them, America was the dream. You wanted to come to the states and have a better education. They were taught properly and were well educated as well as articulate in speech,
When I was born, my parents instilled values in my life that I will never forget to these days. Those were the values that I plan to instill in my children's lives one day. So as a young child, I was always taught to think differently. Many people don't believe it, or wouldn't expect it, but I was homeschooled for a majority of my life. The reason for this was because after seeing how the public school system operated, my parents decided that Home School was the best way to educate their children. So my entire life, I relied on being an independent child. I was able to completely shut out the rest of the world and concentrate on homework. Getting things done was easy for me. I was not distracted or swayed by anything because I didn't really have that growing up. You can say I was sheltered, but not from society. Social involvement, contrary to what many people believe was very important to my family. Both of my parents were heavily involved in the sports world. My father was a track and field star, a baseball/softball star, and pretty much Mister Popular. My mother was in the arts and also a basketball star. So yeah, it was pretty much expected of me that I was to either be in the arts or sports of some kind.
I chose the sports track! No questions asked. I did tennis, track & field, volleyball, soccer, softball and dabbled in basketball. I had regular lessons, private lessons, group lessons. I went on field trips and summer camps. Training camps and the gym was my life! This was just one section of my very busy life. I was also heavily involved in the arts. I took art lessons, music theory, choir and vocal lessons, painting class, dance class and a whole bunch of activites. My family never sat still. After schoolwork it was all about staing fit and healthy and not being bored on the couch. So you could say that my life was never boring, but exhausting!
My mother used to always say that I never sat still unless I was doing work. I'll never forget when I first started designing. Since I was the oldest child, I always saw the addition of another child. With the addition of another child, came the boxes of Pampers. Here is where I got creative. Me and my brother would take the boxes and saw them in half and create houses. We would X-acto out windows and use packing tape for "windows". We would use bendy straws to make "plumbing" from the sinks to the bathtubs to the gutters. Floorplans were drawn out with crayons on the bottom of the box and furniture was constructed with cardboard and Elmers Glue. Little did I know that this was a part of my future in Interior Design. I never imagined any profession along those lines. I figured I would go to my dad's Alma Mater (Northeastern University) and study business or nursing or something similar. Everyone told me that I should go to Harvard (pronounced Haaa-Vaad in Boston's twang), and become a lawyer since I talked soo much. (Do I??? Don't answer that..it was a rhetorical question!)
Of course, THAT didn't happen because in 2004, my life was changed and I moved to South Florida with the family to enjoy the warmer weather. So of course, me being 13 at the time, I was a freshman in high school. I didn't know the school systems down here so my parents agreed to homeschool me for one more year and if I really wanted to, I could "try" public school. (Of course I wanted to try public school!) So I went to public school. uh...yeah I wanted to go back to homeschool soo bad but I also wanted to be with all the kids and change classes, have a locker (yeah not the cubby hole my dad bought for us) , and eat school lunch! Hey a girl can dream! But it wasn't what I thought it was. High school FYI is not like the movies. I was slightly dissappointed. So I decided to pursue my other passion and turn to sports. I played softball, soccer and ran track. I stayed after school to become more elite and make my dream more of a reality. Truth is, I didn't really enjoy it. I only did it because I wasnted to be like my father. All American athlete. He was the track star, so I became the track star. He was a starting pitcher, so I had to be a pitcher in softball. It wasn't my dream. But I didn't really know what was my dream!
I recall, my aunt had attended the Design Academy here in Tampa and had gone to school for interior design to I figured, hey why not? I rearranged my room around pretty much once a month, had new visons for the living room and was excellent at picking paint colors and furniture for the house. But I had no idea where I was to go for a school like that? My dream was to go to Florida State University because I originally wanted to play softball there, but because sports were no longer my passion, I saw that they had Interior Design as a major so I figured hey why not?! I sent for information about the school and I was all about attending the college, til I realized, Florida was the size of Texas and Tallhassee was FAAARRRR from South Florida. I did not want to be that far from family. So here I was back at square one. No clue where I was going or even if Interior Design was to be my final career choice. Oh yeah, and SENIOR year was approaching fast!!!!!
So my Senior Year, I was signing up for classes. There was a class called Commercial Art that focused the first half on Fashion Design and the second half on Interior Design. Couldn't hurt, so yep I took the class. Funny story, my teacher had attended the Art Institute of Chicago and gradauted with a BFA in Interior Design. Ahhaaa! I found my answers! I bugged her everyday to let me skip Fashion and go straight into Interior Design. She agreed and gave me mini projects to work on. Mostly research and floorplan reading as well as perspective drawings. But I realized that I liked it! In fact I loved it! At that moment, I figured I wanted to be an Interior Designer! So then she gave me information about schools that offered interior design including Art Institutes. I took the information and put it along with the rest of the information I had gathered.
At home, my parents wanted me to take on a side project since I had "taken classes in Interior Design". (PS i only took one class my senior year..that didn't qualify me to be taking on any project but I agreed!) They wanted to extend the back of the house to incorporate all members of my family. 2 parents, 5 children, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms doesnt quite make for a fully functional house. So I took some grid paper, a ball point pen, I grabbed the existing plan and started sketching. Eh it was okay. Nothing fancy, after all, ballpoint pen, blue ink reallllyyy doesn't mix so yeah. My mom took it to the contractor and the contractor LOVES MY BLUE PEN GRID PAPER DRAWING! Really!?!? Yepp! He said for some one who had not attended higher education, I had a knack for design. (well thanks :] ) So that was conformation that I was ya know, maybe supposed to be headed in that direction? Yeahhh!
So after my head had gotten HUGE from all the compliments that this guy was throwing my way and after all the cheek hurting smiles I sat at the computer and applied to Miami International University of Art and Design. I wanted to make my college experience fun and why not go to Miami?!?! Well after a few months we drove to check out the college. ROAD TRIP! Yeah, road trip cut short! Beautiful building, great facility but stuck in a run down part of town. My dad asked the rep what happened if I didn't have a car and had to go to school? The man answered oh walk! As if it was as easy as smiling! Whoo that smile quickly dropped from my parents face. The Caribbean in him came out! He said oh No, I don't have the money for a bulletproof vest && Mace! hahahahaha great moment dad! Thanks! But he was being protective and I was really thankful for that! The ADA for MIUAD recommended that we were closer to the Art Institute of Tampa. So we smiled, thanked the man and left.
A month went by, it was April, I had just turned 17 and STILL had no idea where I was going to school. So we drove to Tampa and checked out the school. I received a mini tour and instantly liked it. It seemed fun. A small college with excellent staff. I wanted to go soo bad. Plus the stadium was right there..HELLO famous people...(im kidding but really). That day, I filled out the application, wrote my essay, and was a proud new student of AiTa! I was really excited to be finally aware of my college decision. August couldn't come any faster!
First day of school, basic classes, didn't really see the need to take beginning drawing at 8 AM! Where were the colors and the fabrics? Apparently not in that classroom! It wasn't until the next quarter, Fall 2008 quarter. I had my first Interior Design class. Introduction to Interior Design with Alex Moore. Her dry humour made me laugh and I instantly loved class! But I looked around at everyone else in the class and felt out of place. I was 17. Everyone else was at least 20. they had already gone to college before me. This was not new to them. To me it was. I was the newbie; they took me under their wings. I became part of the community. I finally understood was design was. Real design, not this fake stuff on TV. Quarter after quarter past and finally a year then 2 years. I wasn't in my groove. But I finally became in my groove! I understood the importance of schooling and education. Not that I didn't appreciate it before, but there wasn't a real connection. Hey, I was young. I got my Aha moment after classes with Bill. I sat through critique after critique, and I was learning! I loved it. I got involved in ASID student chapters. Yeah, my design career had blossomed and I really wanted it to last for awhile.
Which brings me to now. I have 2 quarters after this and I will have completed my deisgn career here at the Art Institute of Tampa. I have learned soo much in this journey. My teachers have become my mentors. The classmates that attend here have become like my sisters. We are a community-truly. I couldn't ask for a better experience. I will always miss the days that I have spent 16 hours at school in classes and in the ID lab slaving over a project. I thrived with other people who had the same projects and we laughed and cried together. I cannot believe that this journey is almost over. But it's not over, its just a bridge to the next chapter of life! I am excited to see what is next. I cannot wait and I cannot thank everyone enough for being there to support whether or not you knew it!
This is my journey..I'm not traveling it alone..who wants to join??
[db]
Growing up, I was always surrounded by family. The eldest of five children, an ever expanding family that always showed feelings and emotions and never hid anything. I always knew that after high school was college, then a degree, then working, marriage, children, family etc. That was the process. Doesn't change. But for me, it was a bit different. I was born and raised in Boston. Lived there for 13 years and was taught the Northern way of living from an early age. My parents are not American. They both grew up in Jamaica relocating to the states in their early teenage years. For them, America was the dream. You wanted to come to the states and have a better education. They were taught properly and were well educated as well as articulate in speech,
When I was born, my parents instilled values in my life that I will never forget to these days. Those were the values that I plan to instill in my children's lives one day. So as a young child, I was always taught to think differently. Many people don't believe it, or wouldn't expect it, but I was homeschooled for a majority of my life. The reason for this was because after seeing how the public school system operated, my parents decided that Home School was the best way to educate their children. So my entire life, I relied on being an independent child. I was able to completely shut out the rest of the world and concentrate on homework. Getting things done was easy for me. I was not distracted or swayed by anything because I didn't really have that growing up. You can say I was sheltered, but not from society. Social involvement, contrary to what many people believe was very important to my family. Both of my parents were heavily involved in the sports world. My father was a track and field star, a baseball/softball star, and pretty much Mister Popular. My mother was in the arts and also a basketball star. So yeah, it was pretty much expected of me that I was to either be in the arts or sports of some kind.
I chose the sports track! No questions asked. I did tennis, track & field, volleyball, soccer, softball and dabbled in basketball. I had regular lessons, private lessons, group lessons. I went on field trips and summer camps. Training camps and the gym was my life! This was just one section of my very busy life. I was also heavily involved in the arts. I took art lessons, music theory, choir and vocal lessons, painting class, dance class and a whole bunch of activites. My family never sat still. After schoolwork it was all about staing fit and healthy and not being bored on the couch. So you could say that my life was never boring, but exhausting!
My mother used to always say that I never sat still unless I was doing work. I'll never forget when I first started designing. Since I was the oldest child, I always saw the addition of another child. With the addition of another child, came the boxes of Pampers. Here is where I got creative. Me and my brother would take the boxes and saw them in half and create houses. We would X-acto out windows and use packing tape for "windows". We would use bendy straws to make "plumbing" from the sinks to the bathtubs to the gutters. Floorplans were drawn out with crayons on the bottom of the box and furniture was constructed with cardboard and Elmers Glue. Little did I know that this was a part of my future in Interior Design. I never imagined any profession along those lines. I figured I would go to my dad's Alma Mater (Northeastern University) and study business or nursing or something similar. Everyone told me that I should go to Harvard (pronounced Haaa-Vaad in Boston's twang), and become a lawyer since I talked soo much. (Do I??? Don't answer that..it was a rhetorical question!)
Of course, THAT didn't happen because in 2004, my life was changed and I moved to South Florida with the family to enjoy the warmer weather. So of course, me being 13 at the time, I was a freshman in high school. I didn't know the school systems down here so my parents agreed to homeschool me for one more year and if I really wanted to, I could "try" public school. (Of course I wanted to try public school!) So I went to public school. uh...yeah I wanted to go back to homeschool soo bad but I also wanted to be with all the kids and change classes, have a locker (yeah not the cubby hole my dad bought for us) , and eat school lunch! Hey a girl can dream! But it wasn't what I thought it was. High school FYI is not like the movies. I was slightly dissappointed. So I decided to pursue my other passion and turn to sports. I played softball, soccer and ran track. I stayed after school to become more elite and make my dream more of a reality. Truth is, I didn't really enjoy it. I only did it because I wasnted to be like my father. All American athlete. He was the track star, so I became the track star. He was a starting pitcher, so I had to be a pitcher in softball. It wasn't my dream. But I didn't really know what was my dream!
I recall, my aunt had attended the Design Academy here in Tampa and had gone to school for interior design to I figured, hey why not? I rearranged my room around pretty much once a month, had new visons for the living room and was excellent at picking paint colors and furniture for the house. But I had no idea where I was to go for a school like that? My dream was to go to Florida State University because I originally wanted to play softball there, but because sports were no longer my passion, I saw that they had Interior Design as a major so I figured hey why not?! I sent for information about the school and I was all about attending the college, til I realized, Florida was the size of Texas and Tallhassee was FAAARRRR from South Florida. I did not want to be that far from family. So here I was back at square one. No clue where I was going or even if Interior Design was to be my final career choice. Oh yeah, and SENIOR year was approaching fast!!!!!
So my Senior Year, I was signing up for classes. There was a class called Commercial Art that focused the first half on Fashion Design and the second half on Interior Design. Couldn't hurt, so yep I took the class. Funny story, my teacher had attended the Art Institute of Chicago and gradauted with a BFA in Interior Design. Ahhaaa! I found my answers! I bugged her everyday to let me skip Fashion and go straight into Interior Design. She agreed and gave me mini projects to work on. Mostly research and floorplan reading as well as perspective drawings. But I realized that I liked it! In fact I loved it! At that moment, I figured I wanted to be an Interior Designer! So then she gave me information about schools that offered interior design including Art Institutes. I took the information and put it along with the rest of the information I had gathered.
At home, my parents wanted me to take on a side project since I had "taken classes in Interior Design". (PS i only took one class my senior year..that didn't qualify me to be taking on any project but I agreed!) They wanted to extend the back of the house to incorporate all members of my family. 2 parents, 5 children, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms doesnt quite make for a fully functional house. So I took some grid paper, a ball point pen, I grabbed the existing plan and started sketching. Eh it was okay. Nothing fancy, after all, ballpoint pen, blue ink reallllyyy doesn't mix so yeah. My mom took it to the contractor and the contractor LOVES MY BLUE PEN GRID PAPER DRAWING! Really!?!? Yepp! He said for some one who had not attended higher education, I had a knack for design. (well thanks :] ) So that was conformation that I was ya know, maybe supposed to be headed in that direction? Yeahhh!
So after my head had gotten HUGE from all the compliments that this guy was throwing my way and after all the cheek hurting smiles I sat at the computer and applied to Miami International University of Art and Design. I wanted to make my college experience fun and why not go to Miami?!?! Well after a few months we drove to check out the college. ROAD TRIP! Yeah, road trip cut short! Beautiful building, great facility but stuck in a run down part of town. My dad asked the rep what happened if I didn't have a car and had to go to school? The man answered oh walk! As if it was as easy as smiling! Whoo that smile quickly dropped from my parents face. The Caribbean in him came out! He said oh No, I don't have the money for a bulletproof vest && Mace! hahahahaha great moment dad! Thanks! But he was being protective and I was really thankful for that! The ADA for MIUAD recommended that we were closer to the Art Institute of Tampa. So we smiled, thanked the man and left.
A month went by, it was April, I had just turned 17 and STILL had no idea where I was going to school. So we drove to Tampa and checked out the school. I received a mini tour and instantly liked it. It seemed fun. A small college with excellent staff. I wanted to go soo bad. Plus the stadium was right there..HELLO famous people...(im kidding but really). That day, I filled out the application, wrote my essay, and was a proud new student of AiTa! I was really excited to be finally aware of my college decision. August couldn't come any faster!
First day of school, basic classes, didn't really see the need to take beginning drawing at 8 AM! Where were the colors and the fabrics? Apparently not in that classroom! It wasn't until the next quarter, Fall 2008 quarter. I had my first Interior Design class. Introduction to Interior Design with Alex Moore. Her dry humour made me laugh and I instantly loved class! But I looked around at everyone else in the class and felt out of place. I was 17. Everyone else was at least 20. they had already gone to college before me. This was not new to them. To me it was. I was the newbie; they took me under their wings. I became part of the community. I finally understood was design was. Real design, not this fake stuff on TV. Quarter after quarter past and finally a year then 2 years. I wasn't in my groove. But I finally became in my groove! I understood the importance of schooling and education. Not that I didn't appreciate it before, but there wasn't a real connection. Hey, I was young. I got my Aha moment after classes with Bill. I sat through critique after critique, and I was learning! I loved it. I got involved in ASID student chapters. Yeah, my design career had blossomed and I really wanted it to last for awhile.
Which brings me to now. I have 2 quarters after this and I will have completed my deisgn career here at the Art Institute of Tampa. I have learned soo much in this journey. My teachers have become my mentors. The classmates that attend here have become like my sisters. We are a community-truly. I couldn't ask for a better experience. I will always miss the days that I have spent 16 hours at school in classes and in the ID lab slaving over a project. I thrived with other people who had the same projects and we laughed and cried together. I cannot believe that this journey is almost over. But it's not over, its just a bridge to the next chapter of life! I am excited to see what is next. I cannot wait and I cannot thank everyone enough for being there to support whether or not you knew it!
This is my journey..I'm not traveling it alone..who wants to join??
[db]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)