Campus Life

#PSUBeforeAfter: Arts & Architecture students participate in a four-year project

Penn State graphic design senior Turner Blashford cannot contain his excitement about graduating this spring. Blashford was a participant in the College of Arts and Architecture's #PSUBeforeAfter project, in which incoming students had their photo taken and were interviewed during their first year at Penn State, then again at the end of their senior year, to see how much they changed during college. Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Four years ago, the College of Arts and Architecture embarked upon an ambitious project, inviting all of its incoming students to take a “before” and “after” photo during their first year at Penn State and complete an interview about themselves, to see how much they change during college. Encouraged by faculty members after seeing an article in The New York Times, Stephanie Swindle Thomas, public relations specialist in the college, took the project upon herself and photographed and interviewed students for #PSUBeforeAfter at the beginning and end of their freshman year, with the promise of doing one more “after” photo shoot at the end of their senior year.

For the first-year photo shoot, students were encouraged to bring personal items to their photo sessions. Others brought friends and spent extra time in front of the camera having fun and being themselves, leading to a 2015 album of outtakes in the #PSUBeforeAfter Extras Gallery. When it came time for the fourth-year revisit of the project, students returned to share their Penn State stories and sit for another portrait taken by Thomas, who then asked them what advice they would give their “before” selves, and completed their “exit interviews.” 

Marie Elena “Mále” Reguero, a graphic design senior from San Juan, Puerto Rico, said she brought her Puerto Rican flag as her personal item to her “before” photo because “it symbolizes my roots, my culture, my family and my identity. I love where I come from and I hope to represent Puerto Rico everywhere I go.” In the fall, she will move to New York City as a junior designer with “Rent The Runway,” an online service that provides designer dress and accessory rentals. Reguero not only proudly survived her first winter, according to the first-year follow-up interviews, but all four winters. Her wardrobe has changed from bright colors to black, and she reflected how young she was when she first came to Penn State, and how much wiser she is now. She feels more empowered as a woman and hopes to use graphic design to become an advocate for women. This summer, she will visit Thailand and return home before moving to NYC. She said she will miss the challenges from her classes and the openness and creativity that studio provided as well as the friendships she formed. Her advice to her “before” self would be “Don’t stress about the future, and live more in the moment.”  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Mark Weaver, an art education senior from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, is currently finishing his student teaching in Pittsburgh. Weaver taught for SOVA summer camp in 2017 and loves to paint, particularly watercolors. At his “before” shoot, he said, “I am a strange person, but I’ll always comfort a person in need.” The close friendships he formed his first year and maintained throughout his time at Penn State are particularly representative of his practice of engaged empathy. After the first year, he said “It’s surprising how much difference a year can make.” This spring he wrote, “Who would have thought I would finish two majors and a minor in 4 years?” Weaver was a recipient of the 2017-18 McComb Memorial Scholarship in Art Education.  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Nyomi Warren, a graphic design senior, hails from the Boston area. She is a recipient of the Golumbic Award for Design Achievement, two awards from Graphis (Silver in Film & Motion New Talent Annual 2018 and Platinum in Poster Design New Talent Annual 2016, in addition to being an MVP Visuals Design Winner), AIGA Blue Ridge Flux Design Winner, and Black Congressional Caucus Foundation Visual Arts Scholar. Last summer Nyomi interned with Chandelier Creative in New York City. Despite working 30-hour weeks at CVS in downtown State College, Warren also competes with Penn State’s Figure Skating Team, interns with "Got a Girl Crush" (a feminist publication), and tackles freelance work in addition to her course work. She recently completed her thesis, “Rebranding Sexuality: The Redesign of Condom Packaging and Consumption,” and will graduate with honors. As a feminist, vegan, and lover of “groutfits,” she will pursue a career track where she can help women and minorities continue to rise. Her work can be viewed at nyomiwarren.com. Her advice to her “before” self would be to “be yourself and don’t worry about what other people are doing or thinking.” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Turner Blashford, a graphic design senior, is originally from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He interned this past summer in Boulder, Colorado, at the creative agency Moxie Sozo, and had the pleasure of working on projects for clients like Warner Bros., Gruppo Campari, and Under Armour. This past year he worked with the TEDxPenn State design team to create the logo and marketing designs. He is a member of Full Ammo Improv, Penn State’s improvised comedy troupe, and a vocalist and guitarist in the folk band TV Dinners. He also studied abroad for a summer in Prague. As a Schreyer Scholar, he completed a thesis on the power of graphic design to raise awareness and inspire action to help the plight of honey bees. Blashford says his first tattoo will be of a honeybee. This summer, he plans to go to Uganda to visit his brother, who lives there. Advice that he would give to his “before” self would be to “study abroad sophomore year, and go to more theatre events and concerts on campus.”  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Laura Kaeppel, an integrative arts senior from Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, originally started as a graphic design major and switched majors during sophomore year. She still does graphic design freelance but is happily pursuing her passion of photography. Kaeppel is applying for an LLC for LK Photography and has recently accepted a job photographing newborn babies at Mount Nittany Medical Center. “State College has a way of not letting you go right away,” she noted. As a designer, she worked with UPUA, helped with the rebrand of Bradley’s Cheesesteaks, and interned with Fairtech Labs supporting app development. When she’s not at Webster’s Bookstore Cafe editing photos and enjoying coffee, she spends time following the downtown music scene and cultivating her taste buds as a craft beer enthusiast. If she could give her “before” self a piece of advice, she would say, “You’re going to be ok.”  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Olivia Dowd is a music education major from Pittsburgh. She is historian of the Penn State Blue Band as well as president of Penn State’s Collegiate National Association for Music Educators chapter. She was clothing chair of Encore benefiting THON, a member of the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture’s Technology Committee, and a student leader of the Blue Band Bible Study. She also is a member of Clarinet Choir and Symphonic Band. She is student teaching but provided a couple of photos and an update: “I’m doing well. I’m wrapping up student teaching, conducting concerts, etc. I’ve presented at two conferences now on my thesis, 'The Ethic of Care in Music Education.' One of those conferences was in London, the other right here in Pennsylvania. I’ve been to a couple conferences as a fellow, been to a few symposiums, and became a Schreyer Honors College scholar. I traveled to an orphanage in Vietnam to make music with the kids that lived there. Now, I’m about to graduate and find a teaching job somewhere on the East coast!” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Claire Placky, an art education senior from State College, is doing her student teaching out of town, and sent in an update. She said, “Over the past couple of years I have gotten the chance to study art history abroad in Florence, Italy; teach middle schoolers in Saturday Art School; and student teach for 4 months in urban Pittsburgh. I've also had my personal artwork displayed in multiple shows. The last 4 years have absolutely flown by and I have grown so much and gained so much insight from all of my experiences, I cannot believe its about to be all over!” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Sarah Nacthman, an art education major from State College, fell in love with photography and started her own business, Sarah Nachtman Photography. Nachtman was an intern at the Child Care Center at Hort Woods, a camp counselor for SOVA’s summer high school art camp, and an instructor for the Center for Arts & Crafts on campus. During her time at Penn State, she became involved with the Penn State Thespians and served as their multi-media chair this year. She has also been social chair for RUF 2014–17 and a member of PAEA (Pennsylvania Art Education Association), 2015-present. Nachtman will begin her student teaching next school year and plans to teach public school for a few years and then pursue her master’s degree in either art education or art history, in order to work in a museum. She recently had some of her paintings on display in the HUB. Most of all, Nachtman will miss the friendships she formed at Penn State. When asked what advice she would give her “before” self, she said “Don’t worry, it will be all be fine.” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Sean Merk, a graphic design senior from Denville, New Jersey, designed the 2017 THON logo. He was also on the team that designed last year’s “Moving On” poster and t-shirts. His advice to his “before” self would be to try to experiment with taking different classes and more credit hours. He was inspired by Turner’s experience with the honey bee course and wishes he had taken more courses outside of his area of interest. Merk is in the process of job hunting and doing freelance work. Students were encouraged to bring a personal item with them, so Merk brought a box cutter to the "before" shoot; he uses it for graphic design work, and once accidentally cut off part of his finger with it, so he carries it with him to remind him to be careful while working. Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Grace Collins, an art education major from Sugar Land, Texas, wore her lucky shoes from four years ago to both the “before” and “after” photo shoots. Not only did she dump her “before” boyfriend and chop off and donate her long hair, but she also came out in 2016 and is now preparing to perform at drag shows with her friends as "Jurassica," her drag persona that is part dinosaur. Collins, who will graduate in Dec 18, will also begin student teaching next year and said she has learned so much about childhood education from her observations at Corl Street Elementary. Above all, she gained confidence while at Penn State. As a freshman, she won the President’s Freshman Award, and has continued to collect Pokemon cards and play online games. Collins was a SOVA Saturday School Instructor and worked at an art gallery in Texas during the summers. More than anything, she says she will miss the late nights spent in studio and her community of friends. Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Stella Murray, a 4th-year architecture major from Edina, Minnesota, has changed plenty since freshman year. She shaved her head, no longer eats every meal with chopsticks, and has found balance and self-confidence through being a part of CHAARG, a health and fitness sorority. Although she has one year left of the architecture program, she is also majoring in Italian and minoring in international arts and global studies. After taking 21 credit hours every semester and maintaining a strict regimen, she is starting to focus on "the bigger picture" through meditation and is even growing out her hair again. She shaved her head sophomore year to become more assertive and stretch her concept of femininity; however, she misses her curls and admits that they are a part of her identity. The most transformative part of her education at Penn State has been studying abroad in Rome. She got to spend the holidays with her Italian grandparents for the first time and learned so much from architecture faculty member and mentor Jamie Cooper, as his research assistant. Murray will spend the summer in an internship near London.  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Paige Landay, an art education senior from Pittsburgh, writes, "For my update, not much has changed! I am finishing up my second placement of student teaching in Pittsburgh. This semester, I taught all mediums of art at both the elementary and middle school level, in urban and suburban settings respectively. I am still excited to be working towards being certified as a K-12 art educator. Over the past four years, I have enjoyed pursuing my passions of both art and dance. I hope to continue surrounding myself in the arts as I move on to my next adventure!" Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Andrew Marshall is a senior Art History major in the Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate Dual Degree Program through the Schreyer Honors College, with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He has had several professional experiences in the art world on an international level, is a resident assistant in the Schreyer Special Living Option, and is currently working on starting his second company. Upon graduation in fall 2018, he intends on moving to New York City to work for an art advisory firm. Marshall also came in 2nd in the 2018 Arts Business Ideas Competition and received the Golumbic Award in Humanistic Achievement. This will be the first summer break he has taken, having worked through the others. He is looking forward to taking time for himself, including re-reading Dante's Divine Comedy, getting his ABC license, returning to the gym, and preparing for case interviews. Marshall is also the former president of his fraternity. One of his favorite Penn State experiences was studying abroad in Italy. "I feel so lucky that I got to be part of this Before/After project because it really shows me how much I've changed since I came to Penn State and let me reflect back," said Marshall. Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Marie Elena “Mále” Reguero, a graphic design senior from San Juan, Puerto Rico, said she brought her Puerto Rican flag as her personal item to her “before” photo because “it symbolizes my roots, my culture, my family and my identity. I love where I come from and I hope to represent Puerto Rico everywhere I go.” In the fall, she will move to New York City as a junior designer with “Rent The Runway,” an online service that provides designer dress and accessory rentals. Reguero not only proudly survived her first winter, according to the first-year follow-up interviews, but all four winters. Her wardrobe has changed from bright colors to black, and she reflected how young she was when she first came to Penn State, and how much wiser she is now. She feels more empowered as a woman and hopes to use graphic design to become an advocate for women. This summer, she will visit Thailand and return home before moving to NYC. She said she will miss the challenges from her classes and the openness and creativity that studio provided as well as the friendships she formed. Her advice to her “before” self would be “Don’t stress about the future, and live more in the moment.”  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Mark Weaver, an art education senior from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, is currently finishing his student teaching in Pittsburgh. Weaver taught for SOVA summer camp in 2017 and loves to paint, particularly watercolors. At his “before” shoot, he said, “I am a strange person, but I’ll always comfort a person in need.” The close friendships he formed his first year and maintained throughout his time at Penn State are particularly representative of his practice of engaged empathy. After the first year, he said “It’s surprising how much difference a year can make.” This spring he wrote, “Who would have thought I would finish two majors and a minor in 4 years?” Weaver was a recipient of the 2017-18 McComb Memorial Scholarship in Art Education.  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Nyomi Warren, a graphic design senior, hails from the Boston area. She is a recipient of the Golumbic Award for Design Achievement, two awards from Graphis (Silver in Film & Motion New Talent Annual 2018 and Platinum in Poster Design New Talent Annual 2016, in addition to being an MVP Visuals Design Winner), AIGA Blue Ridge Flux Design Winner, and Black Congressional Caucus Foundation Visual Arts Scholar. Last summer Nyomi interned with Chandelier Creative in New York City. Despite working 30-hour weeks at CVS in downtown State College, Warren also competes with Penn State’s Figure Skating Team, interns with "Got a Girl Crush" (a feminist publication), and tackles freelance work in addition to her course work. She recently completed her thesis, “Rebranding Sexuality: The Redesign of Condom Packaging and Consumption,” and will graduate with honors. As a feminist, vegan, and lover of “groutfits,” she will pursue a career track where she can help women and minorities continue to rise. Her work can be viewed at nyomiwarren.com. Her advice to her “before” self would be to “be yourself and don’t worry about what other people are doing or thinking.” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Turner Blashford, a graphic design senior, is originally from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He interned this past summer in Boulder, Colorado, at the creative agency Moxie Sozo, and had the pleasure of working on projects for clients like Warner Bros., Gruppo Campari, and Under Armour. This past year he worked with the TEDxPenn State design team to create the logo and marketing designs. He is a member of Full Ammo Improv, Penn State’s improvised comedy troupe, and a vocalist and guitarist in the folk band TV Dinners. He also studied abroad for a summer in Prague. As a Schreyer Scholar, he completed a thesis on the power of graphic design to raise awareness and inspire action to help the plight of honey bees. Blashford says his first tattoo will be of a honeybee. This summer, he plans to go to Uganda to visit his brother, who lives there. Advice that he would give to his “before” self would be to “study abroad sophomore year, and go to more theatre events and concerts on campus.”  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Laura Kaeppel, an integrative arts senior from Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, originally started as a graphic design major and switched majors during sophomore year. She still does graphic design freelance but is happily pursuing her passion of photography. Kaeppel is applying for an LLC for LK Photography and has recently accepted a job photographing newborn babies at Mount Nittany Medical Center. “State College has a way of not letting you go right away,” she noted. As a designer, she worked with UPUA, helped with the rebrand of Bradley’s Cheesesteaks, and interned with Fairtech Labs supporting app development. When she’s not at Webster’s Bookstore Cafe editing photos and enjoying coffee, she spends time following the downtown music scene and cultivating her taste buds as a craft beer enthusiast. If she could give her “before” self a piece of advice, she would say, “You’re going to be ok.”  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Olivia Dowd is a music education major from Pittsburgh. She is historian of the Penn State Blue Band as well as president of Penn State’s Collegiate National Association for Music Educators chapter. She was clothing chair of Encore benefiting THON, a member of the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture’s Technology Committee, and a student leader of the Blue Band Bible Study. She also is a member of Clarinet Choir and Symphonic Band. She is student teaching but provided a couple of photos and an update: “I’m doing well. I’m wrapping up student teaching, conducting concerts, etc. I’ve presented at two conferences now on my thesis, 'The Ethic of Care in Music Education.' One of those conferences was in London, the other right here in Pennsylvania. I’ve been to a couple conferences as a fellow, been to a few symposiums, and became a Schreyer Honors College scholar. I traveled to an orphanage in Vietnam to make music with the kids that lived there. Now, I’m about to graduate and find a teaching job somewhere on the East coast!” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Claire Placky, an art education senior from State College, is doing her student teaching out of town, and sent in an update. She said, “Over the past couple of years I have gotten the chance to study art history abroad in Florence, Italy; teach middle schoolers in Saturday Art School; and student teach for 4 months in urban Pittsburgh. I've also had my personal artwork displayed in multiple shows. The last 4 years have absolutely flown by and I have grown so much and gained so much insight from all of my experiences, I cannot believe its about to be all over!” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Sarah Nacthman, an art education major from State College, fell in love with photography and started her own business, Sarah Nachtman Photography. Nachtman was an intern at the Child Care Center at Hort Woods, a camp counselor for SOVA’s summer high school art camp, and an instructor for the Center for Arts & Crafts on campus. During her time at Penn State, she became involved with the Penn State Thespians and served as their multi-media chair this year. She has also been social chair for RUF 2014–17 and a member of PAEA (Pennsylvania Art Education Association), 2015-present. Nachtman will begin her student teaching next school year and plans to teach public school for a few years and then pursue her master’s degree in either art education or art history, in order to work in a museum. She recently had some of her paintings on display in the HUB. Most of all, Nachtman will miss the friendships she formed at Penn State. When asked what advice she would give her “before” self, she said “Don’t worry, it will be all be fine.” Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Sean Merk, a graphic design senior from Denville, New Jersey, designed the 2017 THON logo. He was also on the team that designed last year’s “Moving On” poster and t-shirts. His advice to his “before” self would be to try to experiment with taking different classes and more credit hours. He was inspired by Turner’s experience with the honey bee course and wishes he had taken more courses outside of his area of interest. Merk is in the process of job hunting and doing freelance work. Students were encouraged to bring a personal item with them, so Merk brought a box cutter to the "before" shoot; he uses it for graphic design work, and once accidentally cut off part of his finger with it, so he carries it with him to remind him to be careful while working. Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Grace Collins, an art education major from Sugar Land, Texas, wore her lucky shoes from four years ago to both the “before” and “after” photo shoots. Not only did she dump her “before” boyfriend and chop off and donate her long hair, but she also came out in 2016 and is now preparing to perform at drag shows with her friends as "Jurassica," her drag persona that is part dinosaur. Collins, who will graduate in Dec 18, will also begin student teaching next year and said she has learned so much about childhood education from her observations at Corl Street Elementary. Above all, she gained confidence while at Penn State. As a freshman, she won the President’s Freshman Award, and has continued to collect Pokemon cards and play online games. Collins was a SOVA Saturday School Instructor and worked at an art gallery in Texas during the summers. More than anything, she says she will miss the late nights spent in studio and her community of friends. Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Stella Murray, a 4th-year architecture major from Edina, Minnesota, has changed plenty since freshman year. She shaved her head, no longer eats every meal with chopsticks, and has found balance and self-confidence through being a part of CHAARG, a health and fitness sorority. Although she has one year left of the architecture program, she is also majoring in Italian and minoring in international arts and global studies. After taking 21 credit hours every semester and maintaining a strict regimen, she is starting to focus on "the bigger picture" through meditation and is even growing out her hair again. She shaved her head sophomore year to become more assertive and stretch her concept of femininity; however, she misses her curls and admits that they are a part of her identity. The most transformative part of her education at Penn State has been studying abroad in Rome. She got to spend the holidays with her Italian grandparents for the first time and learned so much from architecture faculty member and mentor Jamie Cooper, as his research assistant. Murray will spend the summer in an internship near London.  Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Paige Landay, an art education senior from Pittsburgh, writes, "For my update, not much has changed! I am finishing up my second placement of student teaching in Pittsburgh. This semester, I taught all mediums of art at both the elementary and middle school level, in urban and suburban settings respectively. I am still excited to be working towards being certified as a K-12 art educator. Over the past four years, I have enjoyed pursuing my passions of both art and dance. I hope to continue surrounding myself in the arts as I move on to my next adventure!" Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

Andrew Marshall is a senior Art History major in the Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate Dual Degree Program through the Schreyer Honors College, with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He has had several professional experiences in the art world on an international level, is a resident assistant in the Schreyer Special Living Option, and is currently working on starting his second company. Upon graduation in fall 2018, he intends on moving to New York City to work for an art advisory firm. Marshall also came in 2nd in the 2018 Arts Business Ideas Competition and received the Golumbic Award in Humanistic Achievement. This will be the first summer break he has taken, having worked through the others. He is looking forward to taking time for himself, including re-reading Dante's Divine Comedy, getting his ABC license, returning to the gym, and preparing for case interviews. Marshall is also the former president of his fraternity. One of his favorite Penn State experiences was studying abroad in Italy. "I feel so lucky that I got to be part of this Before/After project because it really shows me how much I've changed since I came to Penn State and let me reflect back," said Marshall. Credit: Stephanie Swindle Thomas / Penn State. Creative Commons

"I feel so lucky that I got to be part of this Before/After project because it really shows me how much I've changed since I came to Penn State, and let me reflect on it," said participant Andrew Marshall, a senior art history major in the Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate Dual Degree Program through the Schreyer Honors College, with a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation.

Although some students did not complete the follow-up or are no longer at Penn State, the experience helped forge relationships between student participants and Thomas that led to a close-knit group of art education seniors who are currently student teaching in Pittsburgh and virtually participating in the project. It also led to  freelance job opportunities and collaborations for participant Sarah Nachtman, whose passion for photography inspired her to start her own photography business.

“Not only as the person interviewing and photographing them over the course of this project, but also as the college photographer, news writer, and social media manager, I’ve seen these students grow and change over the last four years, from documenting their performances and art openings to regramming them [reposting on Instagram] on social,” Thomas noted. “Those connections are what make my job so special to me.”   

On Saturday, Thomas will have one more opportunity to photograph many of the students during Commencement exercises and at the subsequent departmental receptions. Then, the project will begin again in the fall with a new group of freshmen being invited to participate in the second iteration.

“It’s about making meaning,” added Thomas. “Dean Korner proposed the theme of ‘Engaged Empathy’ across the college at the beginning of last year, and I think this project is one example of how we are trying to make that connection.”

To see the 2018 #PSUBeforeAfter "outtakes" album, visit: https://artsandarchitecture.psu.edu/gallery/psubeforeafter-2018-outtakes.

To view photographs from the past year in the College of Arts and Architecture, visit its recently launched online photo archive, AARC: https://aarc.arts.psu.edu.

Last Updated April 30, 2018

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