The Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising hosted the first of several Prospective Days this semester for interested high school or transfer students.
Dylan Ratell, a recruitment coordinator for the College of the Arts, led a group informational session, followed by a Q&A session with academic advisor Laura Caparanis and a student panel from the college.
The 10 prospective students and their families in attendance were informed about the two majors within the School of Fashion: a Bachelor of Science in fashion merchandising and either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Fine Arts in fashion design. Fashion merchandising focuses more heavily on the business side of fashion, while fashion design focuses on the creation of clothing and accessories.
Ratell presented information including admission requirements and future internships to the prospective group. He highlighted additional programs within the school, such as the TechStyleLAB, KnitLAB and available scholarships.
Study away opportunities were also covered during the session. Students in either of the two majors must complete one study away, whether that be in a fall, spring or summer term. Popular destination choices of students include New York City, Florence and Paris.
Among the group of fashion merchandising majors who have studied away in both Florence and New York City is Brett Hays, a fashion student ambassador.
“You can stay in Italy, stay in Florence, and you take the same exact credit, same exact everything, except you’re abroad,” Hays said. “That was really fun because not only was I kept on track to graduate but I got that globalization view of the fashion industry and how actually broad [it] is.”
Hays, who is also double minoring in sustainability and marketing, chose Kent State because of the study away opportunities and the other various opportunities the School of Fashion offered.
“I chose the school because I wanted a big university feel with that still prestigious fashion school,” Hays said. “I wanted to study away, and they had a great study away program, and I also wanted a great network post-grad.”
The required internship for both the fashion merchandising and fashion design majors was especially helpful for Hays in networking and building experience in the career field.
“With the industry of fashion, it changes so much that you can only teach the basic skills and you just have to go in the industry and learn the rest, solve problems and come up with innovative solutions,” Hays said. “Kent does a very great job at providing that basic info for you, and you build your knowledge through your experience in the industry.”
Through being a fashion student ambassador and working within the industry, Hays hopes to inspire others through fashion like he was when he first found an interest in it.
“I want to be able to give that person that feeling of, ‘Wow, I feel confident,’ ‘Wow, I love myself,’ that same feeling that helped me,” Hays said. “It’s just impacted me so much that it’s something I want to do for other people. I’m very passionate about people feeling confident in what they’re wearing, what they want to wear and expressing themselves through fashion.”
Registration is available for future Prospective Days, which are set for Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 8.
Kayla Gleason is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
