Alumni Profile: Judy
High school art teacher
BA in Art education, class of 1983
When you first came to UIUC did you know for sure what you wanted to do as a major/career?
No.
How many majors/careers did you "go through" during your years here and how did you finally come to a choice?
I started in interior design and switched to art education my freshman year.
What was one UIUC event, memory, person, class, that made a substantial difference in your career choices?
My art education advisor was wonderful and gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities.
What was your first job after you earned your degree?
I worked in an electronics factory for four months.
How did you land your first career related job?
I sent résumés to all of the schools in Wichita Falls, TX and the surrounding areas regardless of whether they had a job opening or not. Amazingly, the opening became available in October after graduating in May—one month before I was getting married and planning to move to Texas. I flew there for an interview and got the job!
List all positions in order that you have held since graduation up till now (including those not related to your major, i.e. waitress, temp, teacher, etc.). Please provide brief descriptions for clarity if necessary:
- Factory worker
- Art teacher, City View Elementary
- Newspaper advertising representative
- Newspaper writer,photographer and page editor for Advertising Department
- Typesetter for graphic design studio
- Public relations and marketing manager for a landscape architecture firm
- Sixth grade art teacher
- Highs school art teacher
What is your current occupation and how did you come to it?
My current position is at the high school from which I graduated. My husband and I were planning to move to Johnsburg and I had kept in contact with my high school art teacher. I heard from her there was going to be an opening so I applied for and landed the job.
If you changed career paths after school, did you make a conscious choice to make the change, was it forced on you or did it naturally evolve?
I changed career paths to advertising for two reasons. First the school I was teaching at had to cut the art program because of mandatory state legislation - so unless I wanted to teach regular classroom on a provisional certificate and go back to school I had to leave. I did get offered another job teaching Art at the Catholic High School but decided to try something different. I always had a in interest in graphics, advertising and public relations. I was really glad I gained the new experiences as they helped me become a better teacher.
What steps did you take in making the transition?
I had to start at the bottom doing phone sales for the classifieds and work my way up. I was promoted to retail advertising and gained my own territory for outside sales. Then I was given a larger, more lucrative territory and finally was hired to write, design and layout two advertising pages for the front page. Then I was able to get a job doing public relations and marketing for a small company based on my past experience.
What advice would you give to an FAA student who might be interested in your current or past careers?
Work hard, document, photograph and save examples of all of your work. Many of the jobs I was hired to do outside of my major happened because I had samples of things I had produced in the past. Advertising sales demanded long hours for success. Teaching art is incredibly rewarding.
What advice can you give an FAA student who is currently undecided about their future career?
Dabble in a lot of areas and discover what you love to do. Go with what you love and not with what will provide you with the largest paycheck. You'll be happiest in the long run.