The 36 students in this year's Master of Arts in Interactive Media program have a variety of undergraduate degrees from universities across the United States and overseas.
Raised in western Pennsylvania, and a recent graduate of Penn State University majoring in public relations, Donick sought a new outlet for her creativity and a program that could develop her digital media skill set.
“I didn’t feel ready to find a job that I would like with my skills, and I wanted to find a way to enhance my creative side,” she said. “I liked that this program was 10 months and you learned from the ground up.”
Half of the iMedia class of 2016 – the seventh class in the program’s history – earned communications-related degrees as undergraduates; others come from majors including biochemistry, computer science, history, human biology, international business, marketing, political science and sociology.
Approximately 40 percent of the incoming iMedia class are Elon graduates. Others in the class graduated from Appalachian State University, Bethune-Cookman University, Coastal Carolina University, Presbyterian College, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Wofford College as well as universities in Egypt and India. Read more about this year’s class on the Interactive Media biography webpage.
Two-thirds of the class earned undergraduate degrees in the past two years, and one-third graduated between 2009 and 2012.
“It seems to be a really fascinating group,” said David Copeland, Elon’s A.J. Fletcher Professor and graduate program director. “We have people from around the country and around the globe. I really like the makeup of this class, and I think it’s shaping up to be another stellar year in our Interactive Media program.”
An interest in design and innovation drew her to Elon and she looks forward to learning about user experience and human-computer interaction, which ties into her neuroscience background.
“I have been working as a chemist the last few years and I just got tired of being in a lab,” she said. “I wanted something more creative, where I could be more creative.”
As part of the iMedia program, students without a communications background took weeklong primers on media writing and media law. Following a digital media workshop this summer, all students will begin a full menu of courses in the fall.
Elon’s 10-month, full-time program prepares graduates to think strategically across media platforms; plan and create interactive media content consisting of text, images, sounds, video and graphics; and manage information for interactive news, entertainment and persuasive communications.