Molly Rogers
Creighton University
AAF Student Member
Bluejay Ad Club – Club Leader
AAF Omaha Student Ambassador
AIGA Treasurer
My love for the arts and everything creative first showed itself in elementary school when I decided to join the instrumental music program to play the trumpet. After years of dedication, determination and discipline I can still remember a feeling of accomplishment when I made first chair trumpet of the Nebraska All-State Band and was awarded a spot in the Metropolitan Area Youth Jazz Orchestra. What I learned from these experiences is that all of my dreams are within reach if I am willing to put forth the effort required to achieve them.
I still play in Creighton’s Pep Band, having served as both the Public Relations Officer and Treasurer, while serving as the high brass coach at Central High School for the past four years. However, I found my true passions lie in the field of graphic design and advertising. After taking a couple of graphic design classes in high school I was certain about my decision to enroll as a graphic design major at Creighton University. As fate would have it, I had an Intro to Public Relations and Advertising class with Dr. Jeff Maciejewski. That same year, he prompted me to attend my first Meet the Pros. It was then that my love for advertising began to take shape. I decided to pursue a second major in journalism with an emphasis in advertising. I was enamored with advertising because it combined my love of design with the added challenges of delivering an impactful message. This new love for advertising combined with guidance from Dr. Maciejewski prompted me to become the leader and founding member of the Bluejay Ad Club.
In the summer of 2016 I was offered an internship in the University Communications and Marketing Department. I readily accepted the offer and have been there for nearly a year and a half. I work on logo development, promotional materials and event and communication projects. In my time as a Creative Intern, my team and I have worked diligently to get all entities and work products on campus in compliance with Creighton brand standards. My most notable contribution has been the design of a new Creighton campus map from bottom up on my own, a task that had not been tackled in over twenty years. Later, I designed the CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center – Bergan Mercy campus map to match the style of the newly designed Creighton campus map.
In May 2017 I was asked to step in as Project Management Intern while my team’s Project Manager was on maternity leave. In this capacity I learned to file project briefs, schedule project timelines, assign tasks to my team, log projects in Wrike and close out files upon completion. These leadership and organizational skills have continued to be invaluable to both myself as an individual and my team.
In addition to my internship, I have served as the Academic Tutor to the Creighton men’s basketball team since March of 2016. I tutor them in graphic design, journalism, philosophy, science, English and research statistics. It is very rewarding to see some of these athletes begin to take a real interest in a class that started out as something to fill credits. It has also given me the opportunity to forge strong relationships with a group of guys that are almost like family to me now, while learning how to work and communicate with others.
In my spare time I am co-owner and designer for my own jewelry business called The Twisted Jewel Cafe. In addition to having five online stores, we sell at farm’s markets and will once again be a featured artist at the Aksarben Holiday Market 2017. I also deeply love pattern making, tackling new design programs, antiques and fashion so I fill my free time pursuing those interests.
The best bit of advice I could give is: if an opportunity presents itself say yes. You never know where it might lead.
