Lloyd International Honors College ambassadors on storytelling, connections and leadership
Empowering students comes in many forms at UNC Greensboro, including by giving students spaces to tell their stories, make personal connections, and lead by example.
UNCG seniors Jasmine Doctor and Sa’mya Muhammad – animation majors in the College of Visual and Performing Arts – recently put their academics and marketing skills on display. They combined forces to give a virtual presentation on new media to students at the NC School of Science and Mathematics, many of whom were interested in game design.
“We presented a slide show that was an overview of new media and design, including some of our work, and talked about programs students can combine with their majors, like we do in the Lloyd Disciplinary Honors,” Muhammad says. Among the slides, Doctor included storyboards and 2-D animation, and Muhammad added 3-D animation and modeling.
The two are primed for career prospects in animation with a growing demand for artists who can create 3-D and 2-D graphics for video games, news broadcasts, professional sports teams, and animation studios. Sharing their UNCG experience with the next round of future animators was an apt way to reflect what it’s taken to prepare them for launch from the program.
The honors advantage
Artwork by Jasmine Doctor
Doctor, who is from Florence, SC, and Muhammad, from King’s Mountain, NC, met online before they came to UNCG four years ago and were matched as roommates in the Lloyd International Honors College where they both serve as ambassadors.
“Honors College taught us a lot about how to grow as a person, be more of a leader, find new opportunities and try new things.” says Doctor. “It’s one reason I came to UNCG. I liked the requirement to study abroad, which has been an interest of mine since I was really young.” Doctor has traveled to both Japan and Italy through UNCG; the Honors College offers scholarships and grants to help fund travel expenses.
“It also provides disciplinary artists so we can elevate our art classes, and it gave us experience in making presentations,” Doctor says.
Muhammad adds, “When I met the Honors staff, their energy was contagious. They were passionate about what they were teaching, and that’s something I need — someone teaching the class who’s just as passionate as I am.”
Animation aspirations
Doctor plans to work in the animation industry, maybe in small, independent studios, in the U.S. or Japan, where she hopes to live someday. She has been interested in the country since she met a Japanese exchange student in fourth grade. The two are still friends. She traveled to Japan in 2023 through UNCG and felt at home there. Her minor in Asian studies enables her to focus on Japanese culture and language. She wants to compare the animation industry in the two countries.
Muhammad wants to attend graduate school and come back to UNCG to teach animation. She too has visited Japan, as well as South Korea, with assistance from UNCG. She was once interested in working abroad but has grown attached to UNCG and wants “to create opportunities at home before I create opportunities anywhere else,” she says.
She’d also like to open her own animation studio focused on children’s entertainment. Her goal is to create shows that help children embrace their environment and make them more open to trying new things. “I want to feature characters from around the world and help children see that they can succeed, no matter where they come from, or what they look like.” In her minor in entrepreneurship, she is studying how to start and run a business.
Artwork by Sa’mya Muhammad
Connections for the future
Both students appreciate the opportunities UNCG provides to build relationships with professors. “You’re encouraged to go to office hours, to talk to them in class and take advantage of them while you have them,” Doctor says. “I want to stay in contact with them and work with them in the future.”
Muhammad adds, “My professors have helped me feel comfortable in myself and my work. They’re really good at making sure their students have their plan set for the future.”
Story by Mary Daily
Photography and artwork courtesy of Jasmine Doctor and Sa’mya Muhammad
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