When discussing her senior year at Quitman High School Chrissy explains,

“On one hand, it’s great because I’m almost done. On the other hand, it’s almost over and stressful. Now I’m worried about grades. I need to work hard and get grades. One of my bad habits is procrastination. I’ve always made okay grades, and I’m very good at English and science, but I’m looking into graphic design. I need to be better at math. Because when you’re creating the design of a character: how tall, how wide, and how thin. Every detail matters if you’re going to make something good. The math part is how all those numbers relate to each other.”

Layout and design is something that Chrissy is using at QHS everyday as a member of a team of students who are responsible for creating the 2018 – 2019 Panther Annual.

Photograph courtesy of Mrs. Kemp

 

 

“I was interested in applying my own artistic curiosity, and I wanted to find out more about what people like. I thought I could apply that to graphic design. We have some new pages that people will like. We started taking preorders last week.”

Annual staff has been a natural fit for the young lady who completed two years of TV Broadcasting and Production at the Clarke County Career Tech Center and was looking for another group of like minds with whom to design and create.

“Mrs. McKenzie noticed I was lonely in 9th grade, and recommended that I join broadcasting for the group projects. It worked. Broadcasting also helped me with attention to detail, which is something that I will need in graphic design. Broadcasting helps you learn to pay attention to detail. You are constantly looking to see what your views are going to be; you have to notice what other people notice.”

“I have applied to Neumont College in Utah. It has ties to Blizzard Entertainment. That’s the dream company I’ve always wanted to work for. They started the game called World of Warcraft in 2009. In order to work for them, you have to have three years of school and five years of previous work experience. I’m hoping that by going to Neumont I could get into Blizzard quicker than most. They are waiting to make the decision about my tech experience. I should hear from them soon. All of my family are avid gamers. We have played together since I was three or four years old. I’ve always had a console or something to play on. I can play anyone in the world. I have friends in Australia, Europe, and Asia.”

UPDATE: Chrissy heard from Neumont the next day. She has been accepted into the Neumont College of Computer Science.

How does the Salt Lake City, Utah bound senior want to be remembered in Quitman, MS? Chrissy pauses, looks away, smiles, and says,

“As the girl who entered timid and shy but emerged confident.”

The now confident QHS senior has some advice.

“Know what you want to do and stay focused. The sooner you know the career you want to go into, the better prepared you’ll be.”