线条外的绘画

When Amanda Happel ’14 came to 皇冠体育 to pursue her 市场营销 degree, she was working at Rockwell Collins and had never taken an art class.

她在营销领域有一个明确的五年计划，其中不包括拥有一家循序渐进的教学绘画公司。 她一点也不知道，在短短的几年内，她将创办爱荷华州的软木帆布公司，并开始在晚上教人们如何绘画。

“With your big paintbrush, push down and then pull up and away,” Amanda tells her class. Each student follows Amanda’s instructions as they add whiskers to their silhouette cats. 他们拿起画笔，模仿她快速的笔触。 到晚上结束的时候，在幸运猫喜剧和活动的每个人都完成了他们自己的复古风格的猫在大胆的蓝绿色背景。

这个班有各种各样的学生。 Some try to copy Amanda’s style exactly, while others feel more comfortable adding their own spin on the painting. Amanda’s step-by-step instructional style makes paintings that once seemed complex suddenly within reach—no previous painting skills necessary.

Amanda选择在Mount Mercy继续她的学业，因为她知道她对改变职业道路很感兴趣。 When she started her classes, she didn’t picture herself teaching painting in venues across Cedar Rapids, but she doesn’t regret the path she’s taken.

“It was so far from what I wanted to do with my life,” said Amanda, “but it really pulled a lot of my passions together.”

Amanda had an associate’s degree in computer science and was working at Rockwell Collins as an Administrative Assistant when she started to consider returning to school for her bachelor’s degree. 阿曼达在与志愿者团体合作时发现了她对营销的热情。

“这与我想要的生活相去甚远，但它确实把我的很多激情凝聚在了一起。”
–阿曼达·哈佩尔，14届

“I worked with a volunteer group at the time called Access Iowa,” said Amanda. “I helped them with their 市场营销 for a little bit and was hit with the bug.”

阿曼达梦想在一家营销机构或媒体公司工作。 有了这个目标作为动力，她把所有的注意力和精力都投入到拿到学位上。

当她在学校的时候，阿曼达开始在创意艺术工作室工作。 这个工作室让她在完成课程的同时可以灵活运用，也给了她一个使用新营销技能的机会。 Amanda was occasionally asked to fill in for the Cork N Canvas classes when the instructor wasn’t available. 慢慢地，阿曼达开始更加坚持教学。

创造力关闭后，老板们鼓励阿曼达带上软木帆布的材料，继续自己教课程。 阿曼达听从了他们的建议，创办了爱荷华州科克帆布公司。 She started by teaching just a few classes a month while also working at her dream internship at a company owned by 《阿肯色州公报》.

“I actually had a great job scheduled. I had a paid internship, and I was really excited about it, but the Cork N Canvas opportunity just kind of exploded into my lap,” shared Amanda.

“关于 six months into it, I thought I could really expand this if I just gave myself an opportunity to do it,” said Amanda. “I mean, I had the skills, knowledge, drive, and passion. I thought, ‘Let’s just try it out.’”

“I do 市场营销 every day,” said Amanda. “Probably 60% of my day is 市场营销.”

And 市场营销 isn’t the only skill Amanda gained during her time on the Hill.

“Public speaking was a huge aspect of my classes that really lent itself to my job,” Amanda shared. “Especially for me, being up in front of a crowd every day talking about my painting and how to do the step-by-step instructions.”

阿曼达在Mount Mercy的课程中发现了很多实际用途。 除了公开演讲，她还学会了如何推销自己和她的公司。 她的会计课甚至帮助她学会了如何记账。

“I would have to say that I use what I learned in almost every single one of my Mount Mercy classes daily,” said Amanda.

Overall, continuing her education at Mount Mercy gave Amanda the opportunity to start an entirely new career she couldn’t have even pictured for herself.

“If I didn’t have my degree, I might not be where I was today at all,” shared Amanda. After consideration she added, “I know I definitely wouldn’t be.”