Meet Our Student of the Month: Chans Montgomery

Each month, WhatTheyTh!nk, in partnership with PGSF (becoming The Foundation for Graphic Communication Education), profiles a promising student in a graphic communications or related program. The goal is to raise awareness of graphic communications programs, as well as help students like Chans Montgomery get a “leg up” on entering the industry after graduation. 

This month’s Student of the Month is Chans Montgomery, a fourth-year student at the University of Houston majoring in Digital Media. Professor Jaime de Vega, on his nomination form, said of Chans, “Over their tenure as Print Ambassadors, Chans have ignited student engagement with Houston’s print community. For two PIA MidAmerica networking events, they motivated more than forty students, many of whom had never considered print careers, to drive across the city after class to meet and network with over sixty professionals.” Chans also worked on this program with fellow student Kyla Vargas, whom we profiled in February.

As has become a common theme in these Student of the Month profiles, Chans’ interest in the graphic arts derived from an early artistic inclination. “I was always a really artistic child,” she said. “I loved anything that had to do with drawing, listening to music, sculpting, any of that. So naturally when I went to school, I said, let me find something where I can apply those artistic capabilities, but also get a stable job. The Digital Media program at the University of Houston was the perfect option for me. It really just has avenues for whatever area of artistic ability you’re interested in—videography, photography, UX design. You name it, they’ve got it.”

As we highlighted in our profile of Kyla, the University of Houston has a Print and Packaging Industry Initiative, a collaboration between PIA Mid-America and the university’s Digital Media Program. The three “pillars” of the initiative are:

1. Spark student interests in print-related careers.
2. Increase the professors’ awareness, knowledge, and teaching of current printing technology.
3. Enrich the University of Houston’s print-related courseware.

(The UH Digital Media Advisory Boardmembers overseeing this initiative are Andy and Julie Plata, co-CEOs of The OutputLinks Communication Group.)

As part of this initiative, Chans got an internship serving as a Print Ambassador, helping foster student engagement with Houston’s print community and organizing networking events for UH students and local printing and packaging providers, working closely with PIA Mid-America. “The Print Ambassadorship has a print pathway where they educate students on the different areas of print and how to operate printing machines,” said Chans. “As someone who is more on the artistic side, it kind of interested me. But when my professors would mention that there are careers in print for you to look into, it was always a question of, OK, they’re there, but how do I find them? When one of my professors came to me with the offer to work as the Print Ambassador, I jumped on it because it just made sense. I can learn more about this area that I’ve been interested in and I can also help my peers learn more about it and potentially get careers. And really that’s been the most rewarding part about it.”

Read the Full Artcle about Chans Montgomery Here

Watch Chans’s interview with WhatTheyTh!nk Here

Learn more about The FGCE Here