Major: Computer science
Hometown: Chesapeake, Va.
Year: Junior
HC: How did you you end up getting involved with The Breeze? What’s your favorite part?
Spencer: I got involved with The Breeze during the beginning of the Spring 2012 semester. I hadn’t even considered it until a friend of mine showed me the “Be-A-Cartoonist” ad in The Breeze. So I applied, went through their application process, and became officially accepted as their cartoonist in January 2012. I’ve been doing it ever since, and hope to continue being The Breeze’s cartoonist until I graduate. I should say that the entire job is my favorite part. Every week I do a cartoon for either the Monday or the Thursday issue. My editor and I will find an idea, and if we consider it “comic worthy,” then I will usually draw up the entire thing later that afternoon. I get to work entirely from home as well, so there’s honestly nothing I don’t like about the job.
HC: How has your JMU experience been thus far? What do you want to do in the future?
S: My JMU experience has been great so far, and becoming the cartoonist for The Breeze has definitely helped in making it better. Being involved in the process and drawing up a full comic every week has played a dominant part in improving my artwork over the last year. As of right now, I’m a computer science major and comics and graphic design have always just been a hobby for me. But this year I realized that CS is not for me, and I’ve started work on changing my major over to art and pursuing graphic design. So now, for the future, I am just very optimistic about my art, comics and ideas. I am very much looking forward to where my remaining years at JMU will take me, and hope that I can improve my art even further than I already have this year.
HC: Do you have anything you want to accomplish before you graduate?
S: I want to accomplish the typical things before I graduate: get into the graphic design program, raise my GPA, maybe get an internship, etc. I have a few comic book and web comic series ideas that I would love to one day start on. Once I get more involved in my art academically, I can get the ball rolling on some of my personal projects before I graduate. My plan is to put myself out there, and hopefully evolve it over time after I graduate.