Finding Exactly What She Wanted

Jill Wong certainly could have gotten a degree relating to web design close to her New York home. She didn't want just any old degree in web design, however; Jill had a specific kind of curriculum in mind. She wanted plenty of web-relevant classes, and she wanted these classes to be relatively small. She looked at plenty of schools and found exactly what she wanted in the Interactive Media program at the International Academy of Design & Technology in Tampa.

"Many of the web design programs I looked at were more focused on things like graphics rather than the behind-the-scenes technology," Jill says. "I enjoy graphics, and of course some knowledge of the subject is important to succeed in web design, but I wanted a curriculum that was primarily technology-focused with the option of then taking classes in things like design rather than a design-heavy curriculum that merely included some technical classes." The Academy in Tampa has just such a program: Interactive Media.

Once relocated to Tampa, Jill found even more to like. "I get more one-on-one time with teachers than I could have hoped for," she says. Sure, some of her introductory classes might have had more students in them, but now that Jill is more than halfway through her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interactive Media, she says the typical class size is kept small and allows for more interaction with her instructors. And Jill doesn't only have access to her instructors while in class.

"I'll often email a teacher a question after my night class has ended and when I check email the next morning, there will usually be a response waiting," she says. "I had always thought college teachers were supposed to be distant and hard to get a hold of, that's not the case here at all."

Teachers aren't the only resources at the Academy in Tampa Jill has taken advantage of. Even though she doesn't graduate until June, Jill has already made use of the Academy's Career Services. Thanks to Career Services, Jill got a job doing in-house web design for a civil engineering firm. Jill also freelances; many of her clients are referrals from Career Services.

"I see now more than ever that this is the perfect program and school for me."