Press play: “What color do you want your shirt to be,” a young girl asks her father as she lies on the floor with a box of Crayola markers. “I like orange,” says the girl's father from behind the camera. Little did the young girl Carol Sung know that this would be a moment she looked back on for many years, but her father did. As he held his camcorder and recorded Carol drawing, he knew this would be a moment she would look back on to see how it all started.
“I never understood why my dad liked the color orange,” says Carol, “But little did I know, a simple color can symbolize how much of an inspiration and influence he would have in shaping where and who I am today.” Being a graphic artist himself, Carol’s father always saw her potential. He bought her a huge drawing table, which he carried all through Time Square, so that she could draw more comfortably. “Sometimes his critiques were harsh,” says Carol, “But they built my dedication and determination to become better.”
Throughout high school, Carol was involved in everything and anything involving art and design from the yearbook committee to the National Art Honor Society. She also won various art awards and exhibited her work in art shows. She says her competitiveness grew in high school and she was even voted most artistic just like her dad.
Carol came to FSC expecting to major in graphic design like her father, but her dad impacted her life once again by finding that FSC offered Interaction Design. Her father encouraged her to choose this new and upcoming field because he believed it to be the future of design. Soon, Carol fell in love with the mix of artistic elements, logistics, research, and coding while finding that it was a field she also thrived in.
Carol says, “While at Farmingdale State College, my determination and dedication to become a better Interaction Designer, expand my UX/UI skills, and further pursue my passion for art and design only grew. I grabbed every opportunity I came across.” She proved that she grabbed every opportunity with her massive amount of success in just a few years. She was selected to display her drawings in the 2020 Farmingdale State College Student Art Exhibition, became one of the winners of the 2021 Farmingdale State College Safe By Design Poster Contest for a $500 scholarship award, won the 2021 Long Island Net’s Innovation Challenge, presented her UX/UI case study about parking conflicts in college campuses in the 2022 SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference, and won the 2022 SUNY Long Island Pitch Fest by presenting her senior project idea of revitalizing the life of Chinatown, NYC, for locals, tourists, and small businesses with an app called TangYuan.
She also interned for Taste of the NFL and GENYOUth as a social media marketer and content creator and interned as a web designer for Global Long Island. She credits Dr. Jing Betty Feng from the Business Management department for her guidance throughout her internship. Currently, she is working part-time for Civilian cyber, an IT company as a UX/UI and web designer while strengthening her coding skills. She was introduced to this company through a mentor, Aaon Padin, who she met at FSC’s Job Fair. She started there as an intern but has recently been offered a part-time position with the company.
Carol says, “As my last semester is coming around and I begin branding my portfolio, I feel unsure who I am as a designer, but I always remember the color orange. I finally understand why my dad always likes the color when he designs: orange is an attention-grabbing, exciting, and energetic color often associated with optimism and energy; however, the color orange is more than just a color to me. To me, that color symbolizes where it all began and how my dad has shaped and brought me to where I am today as a designer. Whenever opportunities came across, I always made sure to jump on top of it to give things a try because I never knew how far I would go. I always strive to be the best I can. After graduation, I am excited to see what the future holds as I continue to tackle new challenges and take on new opportunities. I will forever be grateful for my family’s support and all the opportunities I was given.”
