Graduate Essays - Julian Juarez: I have found purpose and meaning in my life and future

My time at Elgin Community College has been nothing short of an enlightening experience and the beauty of graphic design. Throughout my three years, I have been supported by encouraging professors, talented classmates, and kind friends. Next year, I will be continuing my education at Northern Illinois University, but in the future, I hope to travel across the world and explore cultural graphic design elements across the globe.

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to Professor Peter Infelise and Robert Horn for their unwavering compassion for graphic design and their student’s success. Specifically, Professor Infelise’s passion and wonderfully caring way of teaching and mentoring and Professor Horn’s immense knowledge of historical graphic design aspects greatly influenced my perspective of graphic design and his care and advice through finalizing portfolios for one of the final classes.

I started my first year at ECC looking into computer science, but as I went through the course, I found myself unhappy and realized that it would lead to unfulfillment in my life. Originally, I had gone to clubs for possible career options and ideas for my future. I never thought these communities would have such an influential impact on my life. It was through the club events and the community here on campus that I found my belonging.

I am very thankful for my friends who have supported me through ECC. After being a part of the Asian Filipino Club for three years, I can confidently say that I have found purpose and meaning in my life and future. Through this club, I found my passion, career, and love for my culture, and I would have been lost without it. With my friend’s help and hard work, I became the club’s president this past year.

Incorporating cultural and historical elements was where I truly stood out as a graphic designer, and I am thankful to AFC for learning that about me. Through graphic design, I feel free, from how colors affect the viewer to how a font can invoke a certain tone into a piece. I believe that graphic design is, in essence, all around us.

Over the summer, I went overseas with my family to visit the Philippines. I was stunned by the immense compassion, sincerity, and culture of my extended family and the Philippine people.

I hoped to bring this community back to ECC for students wishing to learn about their own Asian or Filipino roots or share with those interested in other cultures. I hope I accomplished this goal for myself and the prior officers who stood before me. My only wish is that people feel the same and see the utmost passion and dedication I put into everything I do.

In the future, I’d like to travel across the world to explore cultural graphic design elements and implement them in my work. I want to tell my Lola and extended family about my events and adventures at ECC and the amazing friends I met. Thank you to Student Life, AFC, and all my friends who have supported me. I will never forget any of you.

Julian Juarez ‘24

Associate in Arts

West Chicago, Ill.

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