Meet AIU Students and Alumni

Meet Derek Peacock
B.F.A. in Visual Communication

Getting the Tools He Needs

It’s only taking Derek Peacock a bit over a year to turn his previous studies in Radio Broadcasting into a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. And during this year back in school, Derek is not only getting the most out of his design classes, he’s also making connections in the real world that might land him a job one day. Derek graduates with his BFA degree from American InterContinental University in July 2006.

“I’ve learned more in the past few months than I think I've ever learned in my entire life. My previous college classes were kind of a joke. I just showed up. I can’t do that at AIU though. The classes are intense and a lot harder, but I’m having fun.”

Derek is having so much fun learning he’s found a professor at the school willing to tutor him outside class for three to four hours every Friday. “Prof. Brasco is a genius. He’s not one of my professors now, but we get together to work every Friday. We work on Flash together. If you’re willing to learn, he’s willing to teach. He’ll show me stuff and then let me work from there. He’s real good at what he does and likes sharing it.”

While the one-to-one with Prof. Brasco every week is great experience for Derek, his regular classes aren’t too far from one-on-one sessions themselves. Since Derek entered AIU with an Associate’s degree, he was able to start out mostly with upper-level classes. “I’ve never had a class with more than, like, 16 students in it. They’re super small and most are about individual projects I get to pick and write up. They’re designed to help me build up my graphic design portfolio.”

“I’m getting the tools I’ll need to get a job. I’m also getting to know a lot of professors who have great contacts. Sometimes getting a job is all about who you know, and I think I’m meeting a lot of the right people at AIU.”

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