Salma Nicholson

Salma Nicholson has always been creative and always thought she’d have a career in the arts – she just wasn’t sure what that career would look like.

She chose to study a Bachelor of Design at the University of Waikato because it offered an exciting balance of creative and technical.

“The scope of this degree is vast and I was able to do so many different creative tasks that I never thought I could have experienced,” says Salma.

“I learnt so much, so many new things. I didn’t study graphic design in high school, so came into the course pretty much a blank slate, and now, three years later I’ve made a short film, designed entire brand guides and made little animations, and on and on it goes.”

She says all the Design staff, from lecturers to tutors, were all wonderful to learn from.

“They are passionate about what they do and this translates to the amount of work and feedback they gave back to us students.”

And towards the end of her degree, Salma became a sessional assistant, or Demo, where she worked alongside tutors giving feedback on first- and second-year students’ work and also helped with any software troubles they had.  A beneficial experience before joining the workforce.

“University is challenging, there is no doubt about that, but with the tight-knit team I had in the Design Department, I managed to graduate without much trouble.”