“I saw how excited people were to teach. I was excited to see people learning. I was like, I belong here!”
Ashley Scott is F.I.R.S.T. Institute’s valedictorian of the October 2020 class! Let’s take a look into her story, her experience at F.I.R.S.T., and what graphic design means to her.
Design is Personal
Ashley’s journey began in 2018. Unfortunately, her grandmother passed away. Ashley could see that her mother was shaken by her loss. To honor her grandmother, Ashley created an obituary design for use at her funeral.
Ashley’s loved the document that she made. It made her happy in a time when she was sad and frustrated. “Design really does make people happy,” Ashley posits. “It gives me a chance to tell people how I feel without speaking. It helps me understand others’ thought process and bring it to life in a visual way.”
Coming to F.I.R.S.T. Institute
Ashley’s experience in 2018 led her to search for graphic design schools in the area, and she found F.I.R.S.T. Institute. “At first I was like, it’s the not first graphic design school I’ve seen. What’s new?”
But when she looked through the courses that the school offers, she saw photography, graphic design, and coding. Ashley had an interest in all three, and hadn’t seen any other schools that offered them all in one program.
“Why not? Let’s take a visit. The visit turned into me enrolling three days later.”
Ashley knew that she had made the right move instantly. “I saw how excited people were to teach. I was excited to see people learning. I was like, I belong here!”
It’s Never Too Late
Ashley had a lot of obligations while she pursued her dreams. She was 30 years old and a single mother of three when she enrolled at F.I.R.S.T. Institute. Becoming valedictorian of her class is an enormous achievement, and a testament to how hard she worked! Ashley says she was told that she wouldn’t succeed because of her age and responsibilities outside of school, but despite everything, she was able to reach her goals.
“There’s never a wrong time to start,” Ashley says. “Find what you want to do and do it. It might be scary. You might bump your head and get some scrapes. But you can do this.”
How F.I.R.S.T. Can Help Bring Your Vision To Life
Being creative is only half the battle, learning how to turn that creativity into a career is the major challenge. Here at the F.I.R.S.T. Institute our mission is to support students through this process. If you want to turn your creativity in design into a career we invite you to tour our Graphic Design & Web Development program today!
