Growing up in rural Nevada, Shania Brown had a passion for artwork drawing and painting from a young age. She knew whatever direction she chose for a career, art had to be part of it. She graduated as valedictorian from Gabbs High School in a class of five students.
After graduating, she needed to choose a college that was still close to her tight-knit family, was affordable and offered the flexibility she needed. Western Nevada Colleges Fallon campus met and exceeded all three of those criteria. She enrolled and began working on her Associate of Arts degree.
While taking classes she became employed as a work study student in the administrative offices. Shania not only gained valuable work experience in both customer service skills and day-to-day office operations but also was able to apply skills she was learning in the classroom to create and design materials for the campuss Continuing Education Program.
She completed her Associate of Arts degree in 2016 and went on to complete the Associate of Applied Science in Graphic Design in May of 2018.
The flexibility in online and in-person learning gave me the ability to complete my degrees in a timely manner, Shania said. I am extremely grateful for the knowledge and skills I learned in WNCs Graphic Design program that provided the strong foundation I needed to now complete my bachelors. The proximity to family, scholarships received through the WNC Foundation and knowledge and skills gained through the college have been invaluable to my career.
Shania transferred her WNC classes and has now gone on to complete a bachelors degree. She is also currently employed full time locally as a web designer with CC Communications and is excited to become a first-time homeowner.