Originally, Northern wasn't even on my radar. I was considering going to Grand Valley, but visited it and didn't feel connected to it. Zaenger had already been going here a year, so I came up to visit him in April of 2011. It didn't take long before I knew this was the university for me.
I originally came into Northern wanting to be a shoe designer. I figured graphic design might be the right field (especially if I wanted to get into fashion.) Although that wasn't necessarily true, I eventually found a love for everything graphics had to offer, especially in web design.
Aside from just graphics, I also occasionally make art with Etch-A-Sketches. Ever since I was a kid, I was pretty good at drawing on an Etch-A-Sketch, and once I got older, I started doing drawing of portraits and cities, and once I got to Northern I started making them a lot more.
I knew for my last project here I wanted do something I was passionate about, and I wanted to something that would impact others. I didn't want this project to be just about me. I also really wanted to challenge myself by taking on a large project, and I felt like this would be a fun learning experience.
With this being a really big project and all, there are a lot of people who made this possible, and I am thankful for every single of one of them. With that said, there are a few people in particular I would like to thank in particular for their help.
First off, a huge thanks goes out to the wonderful Sarah Reimink for agreeing to collaborate with me on this project. Sarah was the one with access to the lighting studio, and was my personal photographer for this project. She's responsible for all the awesome shots of my friends on this site. I know you were really busy with your 403 project as well, but I really appreciate your contribution to this project, and couldn't have done it without you.
Also, thank you to Chris Acree for letting me use your camera to take photos and record videos. Also thank you for letting me steal your girlfriend from you one night a week for photo shoots this whole semester. I appreciate it.
I would also like to thank all of the faculty here at the school of Art and Design. You spend 5 days a week putting up with all of our nonsense so that hopefully you can teach us something and prepare us for the real world. Well I want to you to know I appreciate all you do for us. Whether it was graphics, photography, or drawing and painting, I have learned so much from all of my professors and I am thankful that I ended up at a school where the professors care about theIR students and take time to talk to them.
I would especially like to thank my advisor Shrav for all of his help and guidance over these last four years. You never once told me I couldn't do something or that I wasn't good enough (even when I believed I wasn't,) and even when I was struggling with classes, you believed I could turn it around. Thanks for pushing me to be the best designer I could be.
I do believe Keith Ellis has earned himself a thank you as well. I've had Keith more than any other professor here, and Keith is in charge of the web heavy graphics classes here at Northern. Believe it or not, I was not always a good coder, and Keith was there during the rough times. I must've given him a dozen headaches with my lack of type hierarchy and technical issues, but he never gave up on me, and it eventually paid off. So thank you Keith, even when I deserved a good wake up call, you were never discouraging and always willing to help.
Thank you very much to everybody who took time out of their day to contribute to this project. It means the world to me you all wanted to help make this reality. This project is as much for you guys as it is for me. I really have been overwhelmed and truly feel blessed to be able to call everyone on this project a friend of mine.
Lastly, there were a lot of friends who could not be included in this project due to conflicting time schedules or they are no longer living here in Marquette. Though I love everyone dearly who's on this project, some of my best friends are not featured on this site. I feel like I need to thank them too since they didn't have the chance to be on this project. I don't want them to think I look down on them or that I didn't want them on this project. I want you to know you guys have all had your own individual impact on me, and whether or you're in this project or not, I feel blessed to have so many people I can call my friends.
In conclusion, I hope you enjoy this site. Despite the over 200 hours combined spent on the project this semester, it was absolutely worth it and I would do it over again in a heartbeat. Go ahead, take a peek at who's on here. You might know someone.