User Story

A brief introduction of my history in design.

I gained an interest in art and design at an early age. As a child, I would trace pictures to color. I enjoyed computer games such as SimCity and The Sims which have a lot of design elements built into the gameplay. At the age of thirteen I began learning HTML on my own using the basic version of Notepad. I discovered websites such as Geocities and Tripod, which would give very primitive layouts for a basic website, and I knew I could do better.

I started my formal education in Computer Graphics at Southern Adventist University in the Fall of 2000 with the goal of participating in the new digital multimedia program. I left college and joined the United States Army as a military intelligence electronics repair specialist. After my military experience, I returned to school and graduated from Indiana State University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design.

In 2008 I returned to Southern Adventist University to further my education in a variety of subject areas. During my time at SAU, I worked for various departments designing and maintaining websites, worked with social networking, and worked with digital marketing. Through these experiences I enhanced my knowledge of CSS, worked in Sharepoint, and learned basic PHP.

In the Fall of 2011 I was the interim digital layout and designer for SGN Scoops digital magazine. (Samples are provided in my portfolio links. The full magazine may be available in the archive section of the SGN Scoops website.) Other Fall 2011 projects include the printed student directory for Southern Adventist University for 2011-2012 called the Joker and continuing my education.

In November of 2012, I was asked to take a position as the full-time WebMaster for Washington Adventist University in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. During this time, I helped grow the overall web presence of the university, wrote web policies, trained content editors, and created digital graphics. Additionally, I have worked towards learning how to create templates with responsive design and PHP interactivity. I served at WAU from November 2012 - June 2014 when the university laid off several full-time employees and my department was outsourced. Other projects during this time included freelancing on Elance.com and designing the PowerPoint presentations for Sligo Adventist Church's ministry - Hope for Today.

From September 2014 to March 2015 I served an Adjunct Instructor at Walla Walla University in College Place, WA where I taught web design courses through distance learning from my home in Tennessee. I ensured students had a grasp of not only the technical side of HTML and CSS, but also the design aesthetics and accessibility standards.

Additionally, in 2014 I started my master's degree program and completed my Master of Science in Information Technology, Information Security and Assurance from Kaplan University in February 2016. I was honored to march as a guest graduate with Southern Adventist University in May 2016's graduation ceremonies - as it was a dream of mine to finish from SAU. Shortly before finishing my degree program, I was offered a training opportunity in Northwest Arkansas to refresh my Java development skills. I started in January 2016 with UST-Global and finished Java training in May 2016. I was then placed on-site with a large retailer in Bentonville, AR as a software developer, however due to departmental needs aligning with my skills background, I was asked to to be a UX Designer. As it was a contract-to-hire position, I was hired on my the main company in January 2017. I also started as Adjunct Faculty for The Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Online Division in July 2016, where I facilitate courses related to web design, graphic design, and technology.

I am presently serving as a UX Designer as well as Adjunct Faculty. Additionally, I started working on my Doctor of Information Technology at Walden University in 2017. My goal is to find a position where I can work remotely full-time or teach full-time for a ministry based organization and relocate back to Chattanooga, TN where we have friends we hold close to our hearts, as well as several music ministries we left behind.

Resume Portfolio Samples