From Decor to Design... What's Next....

I would like to share my story on how I came to this point in my life while attending The Art Institute of Tampa. As far back as I can remember I have had to support myself financially. My parents divorced when I was very young and my mother always had to work. Even with my stepfather in the picture there were four kids to support. Well my sister was the smart one so she had a direction from early on. From when I was in elementary school I had to help take care of my brothers while my parents both worked full time.

 By the time I was in middle school I was babysitting other kids to make money for lunch and clothes. This carried on until high school when I joined DECA and realized what it was like in the business world. It was through DECA I would get leads for job opportunities. By senior year I would have two classes and would be off to work for the rest of the day. It took me a little bit to save for a car, but when I did I would then apply at numerous places for extra money. I was working at a doctors office after school, a pharmacy at night, and a miniature golf place on the weekends. I did that until I graduated. I stayed with the pharmacy while I attended a community college in order to pay for classes. Not knowing what to major in, I continued to take courses towards my associates degree.

After completing most of my degree, I totalled my car. Now the money I would receive from working could no longer go towards school but a new car payment. I grew tired of taking courses and still not knowing what I even wanted to do for a career. I decided to focus on my current job and make that my career. I already had a decent amount of time in and all the benefits I needed. I got promoted three times from pharmacy to district office to management then executive management. I could of had my own store by now making a nice chunk of change but I was still not happy.

My father came back into my life after 13 years of not hearing from him. He knew I wasn't in school and tried to talk me into going back. He said he would help me pay for it and sent me a brand new laptop. He didn't get it. He didn't know how hard I had to work to support myself and I couldn't just give that up to go back to school. That laptop sat around in the box for another two years.

 I had purchased my very first house on my own just so I could decorate it. Even though I hated my job, I had something to be happy about when I came home. There was always a project I was working on in my house and I loved it. Well that whole school thing kept working its way around. At the time I had a lot of health problems which consumed my life. My daily routine and diet would have to change drastically if I wanted to keep from getting an even more serious illness. I then thought I would go to school for nutrition. I was basically researching it all day everyday anyways. I told my two best friends about it and this would be the conversation that would change my life. They told me to follow what they had seen my passion to be, interior "decorating". They told me to be more confident with myself and go for it.

That very next week I was at the Art Institute after not hearing back from anyone at the Academy..(thank goodness).  I explained how I loved to decorate and I would be so interested in learning how to sew, and paint, and take a shop class or something. The advisor laughed and said,"well you won't be doing any of that here." After he explained a bit of who knows what, I was pumped up and ready to start. My first three quarters here was one of the best times of my life. I soon realized that this was very different from what I was expecting but still great. It wouldn't take long before I was correcting everyone from saying decorator to designer. It took me a very long time to come to terms with what my original passion was and how that is still my passion. I realized that I wasn't going to be ashamed of saying I like to decorate because I am going to an architectural based interior design school. I feel that decorating is still part of interior design whether people want to fight me on that or not. It is just called finishings and material selections. Heck someones got to do it. You can't design a space that has no materials and call it a finished project. What kind of psychological effect would that have on the space and the people who occupy it? Yes, I know you can opt to have someone else do it for you. Well I guess that's where I come in.

Well after stepping down in my position at my job to pursue my career and taking a huge pay cut, losing my house and everything I owned in it, realizing that my Dad would go back on his word about paying for school, and eventually quitting the only stable thing I had in my life after 12 years of working for them, I believe everything happens for a reason.... and for me that reason would be my education and whatever else God has planned for me. I am so appreciative of what I have learned here at AI and thank everyone that has helped me get my education. We have some awesome instructors that are super inspiring and I wouldn't have made it this far without them! I will be proud to say I have a BFA when I am finished here. I would like to continue getting my masters but I'm not sure if that would be beneficial for me at this time. I look forward to taking the NCIDQ and would love to be a licensed interior designer one day. Will I still love to decorate... yes!  What's next.... I have no idea but I would enjoy working on residential projects and am very interested in learning all that I can to specialize in lighting.
 Thanks for listening to my story