Melanie Sasser and I have known each other since our freshman year of college. We met at our campus ministry and became fast friends after making white chocolate popcorn and watching Pride and Prejudice in the dorm. The most creative person I know, Melanie never fails to find beauty or happiness in life.
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Major/Year: Graphic Design/Senior
Hobbies: reading, hiking, listening to music in the car, hanging out with friends, stargazing
Celeb Status: freelance graphic designer at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA)
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I asked Melanie to tell me about her major: course load amount, favorite classes, and what she likes about the department. The graphic design major is within the art department. She says that work is time consuming and difficult but her classes are small and fun. “We’re more of a group of friends than we are classmates,” said Sasser. The group finds themselves together late at night in the studios of Wey Hall, hanging out and getting to know each other.”
Her studio classes require a lot of outside work, which can be frustrating at times. “My favorite class is currently screen-printing – a new form of art that I enjoy learning,” said Sasser. She enjoys being an art major because she gets to create things instead of sitting in a room and learning about what other people have done. “I get to create things and express myself how I want.”
Melanie took part in an academic internship this summer that changed her life. She had a wonderful time meeting with 16 other college-aged students from around the country and working as the only graphic design intern. The internship lasted for 10 weeks at the Billy Graham Evangelical Association (BGEA) in Charlotte, NC. Melanie lived with a host family, thankful for the experience to live with a family while being in a new city. Melanie was able to learn more about graphic design and how design looks in a ministry setting. She found it interesting to  talk to people in the field and learn to better use the design programs, how an organization functions, and how to work in a professional environment. Melanie and the other interns were given opportunities to explore outside the office, visiting places such as the US National Whitewater Center, Carowinds, Lazy 5 Ranch, and sightseeing in uptown Charlotte. She was even given the honor of introducing interns from out west to try Cookout. “I would recommend this internship to anyone wanting to learn how to use your skills to advance the gospel and serve a ministry that is actively proclaiming Christ and doing the work of God; BGEA is a great place,” said Sasser.
I asked Melanie what piece in her portfolio was her favorite to create.  She answered without hesitation that it was her R.O.P’s also known as Reflection of Practice. This was an assignment that lasted about nine weeks. Every week Melanie and her classmates would read an article by a designer and create a spread that reflected the content of the article and their own unique reflection journals. “Everything was my own writing, designs, even my own color scheme,” said Sasser. She thought it was really cool to have a product that was completely Melanie-made.
Melanie got excited to share some of her favorite work shown above!
Final question for Melanie: Being a graphic designer with an added passion of photography, where is the one place in the world you would like to photograph for an assignment?
After she screamed with excitement, she told me that her dream assignment would be to go to Thailand because of images she’s seen, the architecture, and the ruins. “It just looks like the most beautiful place to visit,” said Sasser. Sasser is also interested in the people there, commenting about special they are and how she would love to photograph them in their environment and shed light on how they live; both the good and the bad.