Student Success Stories
Vera Hamilton
t this year’s SkillUSA competition, Vera Hamilton ‘06, from Santaquin, Utah, won the 3D Visualization and Animation competition at the national level. As the reigning national champ and recent graphic design graduate, Hamilton had the perfect blend of education, exposure to competition and practical experience to become the repeat winner.
At the competition, Hamilton and her partner, Ryan Sacks, were required to model an entire toy train engine and demonstrate how all the gears worked together, a much more mechanically-heavy project than anticipated. Despite the twist, the team came away from the competition with a gold medal in hand.
A large part of her preparation for the competition came from practical experience. Before the competition, Hamilton simultaneously worked at three different jobs, all in the multimedia field. Upon graduation, one of those jobs turned into an employment opportunity at ImageWise, a full, in-house production company, where she had been employed for a year and a half.
Hamilton now designs 3D and 2D video effects, creates Websites and logos at ImageWise, which boasts such clientele as the Utah Jazz, Utah Blaze and Bath and Body Works. Hamilton attributes part of her success to the classes, work and instructors she had at UVSC.
“My education was priceless. All the skills I learned there I’ve used in the work place,” Hamilton said. “From working on teams to designing projects from beginning to end, I got a basis for it at school. My teachers at UVSC were amazing – every professor I had helped me and the encouragement was great.”
As a result of her successes at the national level and other competitions, she has received several extra copies of 3DS Max and other designing programs that she is now working with her former instructors to give to deserving UVSC students.
“I had a hard time going through school not being able to afford these programs, so I’m hoping this will help other students by giving them a chance they wouldn’t have otherwise.”