Meet Sean C.

Digital Media Graduate

With two parents in the graphic design field and a growing interest in art, design and music production stretching back to middle school, what was the right major for Sean Clancy to pursue when he graduated from Columbia High School back in 2018?

Business Administration? Well, that’s what Sean initially thought, but the college’s Digital Media program quickly became the right path for him. He graduated in 2021 with an associate degree in Digital Media as well as a job that grew out of an internship Professor Kyra Garrigue helped him land.

“Kyra is really great. She’s the reason I got my first internship. Toward the end of the semester she reached out to me about an internship opportunity at Curtis Print and Design,” he said. “She thought I would be a good fit.”

The knowledge gained from the first internship gained Sean another internship at Redburn Development of Schenectady, which eventually hired Sean as a marketing, design, and web management associate.

“It all happened pretty quickly, but I really learned a lot at both internships. At one point, I was doing the internship, working at Target and going to school. It was like 60+ hours of work a week but I got through it.”

With a wide foundation of art and design courses including interactive media, animation, video art, digital imaging, and photography, the Digital Media degree can serve as a starting point for any student interested in graphic design or the digital visual arts. Sean also has an interest in clothing design and has designed and produced two t-shirts with his friend Adam from high school. He said all of the courses he took helped shape his style into what it is today.

“The first professor I had in the Digital Media program was Ryan Jenkins for Digital Imaging 1. I created a great group of friends in that class and a lot of them I still work with on projects today. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone who wants to go into the design field. It builds a great foundation for anyone trying to get their foot-in-the-door,” he said. “All the professors I had while attending Hudson Valley created a welcoming environment in the classrooms that aided in my success.”

And how do Sean’s parents’ feel about his decision to pursue graphic design?

“They’re really happy with where I’m going right now. I probably could have taken the easy route and just started working for my mom at Spiral Design Studios, but she told me I should go out and get that real world experience, get an internship, go out and work for someone else and see if this is really the right path for me. And I’m really glad she pushed me to do that”