Letter to My Senior Self

You actually did it. You survived senior year.

Senior Project? Done.


Assessments? Done.


Exams? Done.

It’s a little sad, but its also incredibly exciting. It’s finally time to show off your talent to the world. Before you go, though, let’s look back to your Freshman year at Longwood. It was an extremely successful first year with numerous graphic design opportunities and exciting advances in my career.

Shortly upon arriving at Longwood, I was approached by a student who asked if I could create a promotional poster for the Chess Club. Creating a poster, featuring the Knights Tour, the club was extremely happy with the poster design and posted it in various locations around campus; some of which remained posted until the end of the year!

Joining the Honors Student Association (HSA), I was able to meet other honors students that I did not see very often. This also led to my second graphic design job at Longwood, designing the 2017-2018 HSA T-Shirts. After seeing these shirts, Dr. Fink asked if I could design a deliverable for Longwood’s Day of Giving; specifically in regards to the Cormier Honors College. Working with Dr. Fink on this job then led to another job from Dr. Fink; this time, designing t-shirts for the incoming Freshman class of 2022.

In addition to these jobs through Longwood, I was also able to work for Letterpress Communications as a contract designer. This was exciting because I was one of the first students in the GAND program to receive a “job” offer as a freshman. Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible if Ms. Cox hadn’t introduced me to Ms. Loeser in LSEM. [Read more: Honors LSEM] Working with Letterpress Communications, I had the opportunity to work on several different jobs as a Junior Designer. One of the most difficult jobs I had the opportunity of working on was the Ducks Unlimited booklet. This was a fifteen-page booklet for a banquet held by Farmville’s local Ducks Unlimited chapter. Working on this job, I was required to create design elements; insert information for the event; and create multiple advertisements for local businesses, including Honeycutt & McGuire, The Attic Pawn Shop, Virginia Paving and Sealcoating, and even Letterpress Communications.

I find fulfillment in my work, so the “work” doesn’t really seem like work at all. Hopefully, that is still true for you, today.

Now, it’s time for you to do your thing. Walk across that stage, get your diploma, and go bring good design into the world. You got this.

– Andrew