When senior Taylor O\u2019Dell graduated from her small-town high school in Hughes Springs, Texas, she did not anticipate exploring further art beyond doodles on class notes and high school programs designed with Microsoft Word. Now, O\u2019Dell is a freelance graphic designer and works for Mr. Postman Coffee and the Mitchell Center.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Dell graduated from Tyler Junior College with an associate\u2019s degree in graphic design. She was engaged and served as a graphic design intern for a top environmental engineering company in Louisiana that offered a full-time job, but her life did not feel satisfying. O\u2019Dell broke her engagement, declined the job offer and moved home.<\/p>\n
I felt that I was missing out on something,\u201d O\u2019Dell said. \u201cIt was really a God thing because I never thought that I would end up here \u2026 It\u2019s cool to look back in the moment when I didn\u2019t think I would make it through and now \u2013 it\u2019s so cool. You always work through the bad things and you can make good out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon returning home, O\u2019Dell began working at a local coffee shop. A coworker encouraged her to consider continue her education at Harding. Though she had heard of Harding before, O\u2019Dell never considered attending. This time she talked with an adviser and took her coworker\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Dell is now a advertising major expecting to graduate in December. She said she has learned about herself and grown spiritually,<\/p>\n
\u201c(Harding) has definitely humbled me and made me a better person because when I first came here I remember I was so self-centered,\u201d O\u2019Dell said.\u00a0 \u201cIt just made me realize that everyone is just a human trying to get to heaven and we are all just people that need help in life. I am more vulnerable here, I am more open, I am more me. I found who I am as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before earning her associate\u2019s, O\u2019Dell said she was weary of the kind of future a career in graphic design would hold. She said people would question the idealness of the degree \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI really just like to expand my mind and see what it is capable of,\u201d O\u2019Dell said. \u201cI like being free to do what you want, and using your imagination just to be creative, putting into view what people (want), once you get to put it all together and see their reaction, that\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
During her time at Harding, O\u2019Dell has designed apparel, logos, programs and invitations for Uplift, Bisons for Christ, women\u2019s social club Delta Gamma Rho and several individuals. She has created graphics for HU16 and rebrand Mr. Postman Coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy main goal is making the world a better place,\u201d O\u2019Dell said. \u201cI don\u2019t care how that is, whether to encourage people to become Christians, but also through my designs, I don\u2019t know how that\u2019s going to happen but I\u2019m really \u2026 about that. My slogan, if you will, is design happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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