{"id":21077,"date":"2025-06-04T10:38:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T14:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=21077"},"modified":"2025-06-04T10:38:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T14:38:44","slug":"keep-an-open-mind","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Jason Messina \u201925 found love for UI\/UX after exploring all aspects of game design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At his internship with John Guilfoil Public Relations<\/a> (JGPR), Jason Messina \u201925 has learned how to work on tight deadlines. The interactive media<\/a> major is developing his user interface and user experience (UI\/UX) skills at JGPR, creating and updating websites for clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JGPR is a public relations firm that provides hundreds of municipal agencies, including towns and cities, police and fire departments, and school departments, with communications support and services. It also hosts and manages websites for those agencies. This means the staff at JGPR is always on call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"photo<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have to be on the fly,\u201d he says. \u201cWe get requests constantly, so we have to multitask. That\u2019s a skill I\u2019ve developed during this internship, and it\u2019s been really valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messina has been working on web design for JGPR since January, driving from his hometown of Marlborough, Massachusetts, to work in the Georgetown, Massachusetts, office two full days per week. He\u2019s designed two full websites for clients and has made many updates to other client sites. Jumping between new and existing projects is another skill Messina has been excited to develop. After he graduates in May, Messina will stay at JGPR part-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Messina got into design, he hadn\u2019t imagined he would work in public relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the very cool things about UI\/UX is that you can end up anywhere,\u201d he says. In his classes, Messina has contributed to an array of projects. For one course, he created menus for a mystery game featuring a detective set on a cruise ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messina\u2019s path to UI\/UX wasn\u2019t direct. For the first half of his college career, he took classes in the Becker School of Design & Technology<\/a> with a focus on 3D modeling and animation. But classes with Professor Kat Andler<\/a> helped Messina discover he was much more passionate about UI\/UX \u2014 he felt drawn to use his skills for web development and app design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe’s very passionate,\u201d Messina says of Andler\u2019s inspirational teaching style. \u201cSpecifically, when it comes to game design and UI\/UX design, there’s a lot of intrinsic motivation. It comes from a love for design and getting stuff down into a layout, creating something from scratch, finding different styles that go into it, and making something your own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"screenshot
A design project by Jason Messina ’25.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Messina\u2019s advice to BSDT students is to take time to experience all aspects of game design. \u201cEven if you initially pick a concentration, allow yourself time to explore the others,\u201d he suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy years here have had a lot of growth, including figuring out how I want to start my career,\u201d he says. \u201cI think something not talked about enough is that when you\u2019re in high school, you\u2019re making this huge decision on what you\u2019re going to do for the next four years in college. Definitely keep an open mind. If you see an elective that interests you, take it. Give yourself the opportunity to try new things. I think that\u2019s very important at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from design, Messina is passionate about music. He was able to play trumpet and saxophone on a national stage through the Boston College Marching Band\u2019s Partner School Program, which allows students from other schools to join BC\u2019s \u201cScreaming Eagles<\/a>\u201d marching band. He also played with the BC \u201cbOp!<\/a>\u201d jazz ensemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was in a situation where I could go to school for exactly what I wanted while also having another community for music,\u201d says Messina. \u201cThe football games are cool to be part of in the marching band, and for jazz ensemble, we\u2019ve participated in different festivals across the country. It\u2019s a lot of commitment and the people are awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Messina \u201925 found love for UI\/UX after exploring all aspects of game design<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21079,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-dark-teal)","story_headerImg":21079,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[227],"displayed_author":[237],"featured":[494],"topic":[238,509,508],"class_list":["post-21077","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","displayed_author-melissa-hanson","featured-secondary","topic-becker-school-of-design-technology-at-clark-university","topic-class-of-2025","topic-senior-spotlights-2025"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019 | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jason Messina \u201925 found love for UI\/UX after exploring all aspects of game design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-04T14:38:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/keep-an-open-mind\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/keep-an-open-mind\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019 | ClarkU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/keep-an-open-mind\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/keep-an-open-mind\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-04T14:38:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-04T14:38:44+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/keep-an-open-mind\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/04\\\/keep-an-open-mind\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Jason Messina \u201925\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/21077#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/21077\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019 | ClarkU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019","og_description":"Jason Messina \u201925 found love for UI\/UX after exploring all aspects of game design","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/","og_site_name":"ClarkU News","article_modified_time":"2025-06-04T14:38:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/","name":"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019 | ClarkU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-04T14:38:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-04T14:38:44+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/04\/keep-an-open-mind\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Jason Messina \u201925"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/21077#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ClarkU News","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/21077"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/","name":"ClarkU News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Jason_Messina_APR_2025-10-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/21077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/21077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21077"},{"taxonomy":"displayed_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed_author?post=21077"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=21077"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=21077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}