Did you know that UC Davis has a design major? Two years ago when I applied, I had no idea. I was completely shocked when I found out if I’m being honest. As with any major, there are jokes you can make about it, and as a design student, some of the jokes that I heard from non-design majors include “all you do is color,” “design is such an easy major,” and “you only draw tooth people.” While yes, we do all of those things, the design major is very complex within itself. I do not regret my decision of two years choosing design as my major. People can say design is an “easy” major because, in all honesty, it is compared to other majors at this school. Although “easy” is not the best word to use, design is a hard major for many reasons. This major challenges you to be creative because you are being judged by how little to how much you add to a project.
Once a roommate told me “design’s hard, I could never do that” and “I don’t have the patience to do that” when talking about the meticulous hours I was taking on drawing a number of floorplans. From the outside looking in, the Design major might seem like a breeze, but through looking at it from a different perspective, the major brings such a number of qualities that allow your creativity to expand in ways that it is not imaginable. My journey choosing this major was not what it might seem. I didn’t choose it because I wanted to be creative, I chose it because it seemed interesting enough and might help me in my future career. If I am being honest, that was the main reason as to why I picked design. I wanted and still want to go into a marketing field in the future but unfortunately, UC Davis didn’t have a marketing or a business major for me to pursue. I am very glad that I continued with this path because I would be lying to myself if I said that I didn’t want to pursue something creatively.
One of the things that I love about my major is the one-on-one connections that I can have with all of my professors. By having a relatively small major, I can create more personal relationships with my professors, especially those I honor immensely. The second thing that I love about the design program is how closely I can create friendships. When taking classes I typically see quite a few faces, and through this, I can build on these relationships, and form more than just “class friends.” I know that through this major I was able to make some lifelong friends and bond more with my professors where they can help me further in my career or when I’m dealing with issues. They will become my biggest advocate. I’m very thankful for all of the experiences, the friends, the connections, and the creativity that this major has given me.