IT HAPPENED!! I GOT INTO THE BYU GRAPHIC DESIGN PROGRAM!!!!!!! 
and if you couldn't already tell by the excessive capitalization/exclamation marks, i couldn't be more thrilled!!

it's a pretty competitive major to get into, so i was not expecting this.
i was physically shaking with nerves when i went to pick up my acceptance letter, and had to re-read "dear shayla, congratulations! your application to the department of visual arts has been reviewed, and we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as a visual arts student in the graphic design track" a solid 67 times before i actually believed it.

last year (when i thought i wanted to major in journalism), i decided to take an intro to drawing class with my friend, brooklyn, for a general art credit. i've always loved to draw, but i never took it seriously or thought anything could come from it. but then, our art teacher asked me if i had ever considered doing graphic design, and it planted a little, baby seed in the back of my mind.

a few semesters later, and a realization that i wasn't cut out to write for a newspaper or become a news anchor, i ended up back at square one. after mulling through the million majors offered at byu, and the only ones that i was really interested in were in the visual arts department. so i signed up for the pre-requisites (including a "freshman seminar" i had to attend as a junior...) which are required before applying to any of the programs. 

after attending the graphic design lab, i was sold.
it was the first time in my entire life that i felt like i knew exactly what i wanted to be when i grew up.

so i struggled through balancing semester of art classes while planning my wedding, to get my portfolio ready to apply for my newfound passion, and now i can say it was all worth it. i feel so happy/blessed/excited/lucky/content :)

here are the projects i submitted in my portfolio:











 and this was my creative conception exercise: