Brook Boyd ’24 has a passion to create with intentionality, especially in order to connect with others.
She first believed this would be accomplished through art education. However, her desire to create pieces that people would connect with and be inspired by was greater than her desire to instruct others, so she changed her major to graphic design.
“Creating like the Creator — we were built in His image,” she explains, “ and all of His creation impacts us. And so, our art that we put out there is not just floating around. Somebody’s going to see it; it’s going to make a difference to them, [even if] it’s small.”
Boyd was hired as a graphic designer by J2 Marketing, a marketing agency in South Bend, after completing classes in December. She initially connected with the company through Leslie Miller, an adjunct professor in the art department. When Boyd had an internship fall through the spring of her junior year, Miller provided her with several connections to the graphic design community. While Boyd ended up interning elsewhere, she reached out to J2 again the next fall, and they hired her.
Those personal connections in the art department and small community of the school brought Boyd to Bethel in the first place. She recognized that students receive an amount of attention and a chance at opportunities at Bethel that might not be available at a larger school.
When Boyd first visited Bethel, Art Department Chair Chad Jay knew who she was before he had even met her.
“When I first met him, he knew my name, grade, what I wanted to do I hadn’t had that experience yet [at other schools],” she recalls. “The intentionality of taking the time to know students was huge.”
Boyd found confidence in her own voice at Bethel. Interning with the theatre department’s scene shop helped build her people skills and to think about the final product when designing.
“Intentionality is the overall huge thing I learned from Bethel,” Boyd says. “Being intentional with your coworkers, being intentional with your work. All of [God’s] creation is intentional. No matter how small a piece is or how big it is, there should still be intention behind it.”