Meghan Fox
Senior
Graphic design major
Hometown: Beal City, Michigan
Why graphic design?: “It’s a way for me to be creative in a way that will be useful after I graduate, especially in the highly advanced and technical world we live in. Art is all around us, especially in advertising and entertainment.”
Real world experience: Meghan spent her summer interning at Warner Bros., where she created poster and sign designs for a new CBS television series called “The Mentalist.” “It was a very neat experience. I got to do and see things that most people just see on television.”
Using what she learned in the classroom: “In just about everything I did, I was implementing something I learned from my art classes, whether it was simple design concepts, using graphics software or the process of making a concept become a design.”
What’s cool about your major?: “I like my major because it’s very diverse and open-ended. There really are no boundaries to it, and I can choose to work for a wide range of different companies. It’s a very wide job market.”
The future: “My internship this summer made me really want to do something along the lines of television and entertainment after graduation. I am really fascinated by the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes, so if I could work for a production agency in Los Angeles, that would be my dream.”
Find out about CMU’s design program at: http://www.art.cmich.edu
Morris Langworthy
Senior
Meteorology major, math minor
Hometown: Leroy, Michigan
Why meteorology: “Weather affects everyone’s everyday lives. Everyone wants to know what the weather will be today.”
On the side: Morris has his eyes on the sky as a trained spotter for the National Weather Service, watching for hail, tornados, thunderstorms and high winds and then reporting the severe weather conditions to the weather service’s Grand Rapids office.
Who should study meteorology: “The kind of person who loves to watch storms, stare at the clouds, and wonder how weather works. If you want to affect people’s everyday lives, meteorology is for you.”
The classes: Meteorology majors get a broad science background including physics and chemistry, and they’re all math minors.
Where you’ll work: There are lots of options for meteorologists: broadcasting, aviation, the military, the National Weather Service, or large construction companies or other organizations whose work is directly affected by the weather. “It’s such a wide job market,” Morris says.
What Morris will do: Probably broadcast meteorology because of his great experience at CMU’s student television station. “Working at News Central 34 has really set me up to get right into a job,” he says.
Danielle Grieser
Senior
Fashion merchandising and design major, fiber arts minor
Hometown: Macomb, Michigan
Why fashion? “Fashion has always been a major interest of mine. I started sewing when I was 7, making dresses for my Barbies. It’s never boring. New designs and trends are always coming out.”
Getting experience: Danielle is doing a summer internship at Jose Castro Estudio fashion design studio in Barcelona, Spain. She cuts out patterns, sews garments, irons finished garments, and helps conduct fittings.
Barcelona life: “This is a very laid back city. Lunch can last for hours, shops close for a few hours in the middle of the day for a siesta, and you walk just about everywhere unless you take the metro. The nightlife is amazing. I went to a salsa bar and learned how to salsa, rumba, and cha cha, which was a lot of fun!”
What’s cool about your major? “There is a lot of freedom which allows for your own creativity. A lot of our assignments allow us to do whatever we want within a certain season, age range, time period or function of design.”
Why CMU? “Our program offers the technology and education that you actually use in the real world. The software we use in computer aided design classes is the same software used at major companies. We also have a body scanner that can measure 300,000 data points and render a 3-D image of your body in seconds. We are one of the first universities to have this kind of technology.”
The future: “Prior to graduation I will be searching for a job in fashion design. If I stay in the U.S., I will be looking into Chicago, New York and L.A. If I go to Europe I will look into London, Paris and Barcelona. Hopefully my internship will offer me a position – or help me find one.”
Find out about CMU’s fashion merchandising and design program at http://www.ehs.cmich.edu/amd.
James Crank
Senior
Entrepreneurship major
Hometown: West Bloomfield, Michigan
About James: He’s a full-time student who puts his education to use every day as the full-time manager of his family’s business, Cranker’s Coney Island, in Mount Pleasant.
Why entrepreneurship: “You get to learn the basics about all the business areas – finance, accounting, advertising, management, marketing. You get a broad general view of how they all work. For me it was the best way to go, hands down.”
What’s cool: “Because I’m running a business, I use that for all my homework assignments and class projects. If you have a business idea in mind, or even if you have four or five ideas in mind, use those for your assignments and projects.”
On ice: James played college hockey in Massachusetts until he went into business with his dad to open Cranker’s. Now he stays in the game by playing hockey with friends once a week at the Mount Pleasant Ice Arena.
How is playing hockey like running a restaurant? “Both are so competitive. In the restaurant business you’re always competing – especially in Mount Pleasant, which has the highest restaurant seating per capita in the state because of the casino and CMU. It definitely fills the void of competition for me.”
The plan: “We want to open 10 to 15 Crankers ourselves and then start franchising them.”
Does he eat at Cranker’s? “Every day. And I don’t get sick of it!” (Two of his favorite items are the chicken finger pita and the Greek salad.)
For more about the entrepreneurship major: http://www.cba.cmich.edu
