Leonardo Giordano

Honors College student Leonardo Giordano came to UMass Lowell for its location – only 45 minutes by train from his home in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood – and its strong reputation for graphic design.

But during his junior year, he questioned whether the graphic design pathway was right for him. His interests had shifted from producing print and 2D materials towards web and 3D design, thanks to courses in user-friendly web design and architectural studies.  

“Designing for Lego is a secret dream of mine,” he says.

After consulting with his advisors and one of his favorite professors, Associate Professor Marie Frank, Giordano switched his major to liberal arts, which requires two concentrations and a minor. He added a concentration in architectural studies, which Frank directs, to graphic design and a minor in Italian studies.

The major change gave him the flexibility to choose more electives aligned with his current career goal: becoming a web designer with strong skills in visual presentation, marketing and user experience optimization.

“The Bachelor of Liberal Arts has allowed me to curate my classes strictly around my interests,” he says.

Those electives included a new, career-connected internship class in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Giordano found a summer marketing internship at Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN) Media, where he helped to advertise the organization’s broadcast facilities and promote an internal awards celebration. 

The internship introduced him to a lot of prominent people and organizations in Boston, he says.

“The internship really expanded my network, which could help me when I start looking for jobs with an agency or as an in-house web designer,” Giordano says.

The internship class was taught by English Professor Diana Archibald, who has extensive experience in designing and teaching service-learning classes that match students with nonprofits to create marketing materials.

As a senior, Giordano is earning credit for a second paid internship that will become his honors thesis project: updating and redesigning the website of a small architectural firm in Boston. Both Archibald and Frank are advising him.

In addition, Giordano serves as vice president of the campus chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, which puts on events that help students meet alumni and get feedback on their work.

Although Giordano came to UMass Lowell with a semester’s worth of AP and community college credits, he decided not to graduate early because he wanted to take advantage of the co-curricular experiences UMass Lowell has to offer, including studying abroad in Madrid with the Honors College.

Merit scholarships have helped him and his family afford that, he says.

“I wanted to take the time to savor the college experience.”