Name: Brenna Gallagher

Position: Design Team

Hi, my name is Brenna Gallagher and I am a sophomore here at UA. I’m from a very small town in New Jersey but I feel like I was secretly born in the south due to my love of it. I am super excited about this class and what it has in store because as an accounting major, I don’t have a lot of opportunities for creative learning as almost all of my classes are business and math-related. I  would consider myself a pretty creative person and really enjoy all aspects of art. Being from New Jersey, I have the blessing of being an hour or so away from New York City, and visiting is one of my favorite activities. Pre-Covid I used to go every winter during Christmas time and see a broadway show and to shop with all of the women in my family (mom, grandma, aunt etc.).  I love to travel, whether it is within the states or internationally. London is probably my favorite place to travel. 

Although my intended major has the reputation of being quite boring, I love taking these honors classes as it gives my creative mind an outlet to explore. I love digital media as well as fashion, and I would most definitely say my most prominent creative outlet is via fashion. I only discovered my love of fashion when coming to college due to the fact that I went to a private catholic high school where I had to wear a uniform everyday. 

I’m a very active person, I ran cross country and track in high school as well as played lacrosse. I still really enjoy running as it allows me to clear my head, it is almost like a therapy for me. Although competitive running has not been so kind on my body. In terms of knee, ankle and shin injuries i’ve pretty much had it all. For example, here is  a fun story about how my cross country career ended: I had a meeting in Manhattan with a mere impossible course. It was essentially a giant hill, half of the course was entirely uphill and half of the course was entirely downhill. As I was approaching the midpoint of the race switching from uphill to downhill, I tripped on a branch and my ankle snapped. However, instead of stopping like an intelligent human being would, I continued the race and finished it because I was terrified being trapped in the woods. As a result, I had a broken ankle, several torn ligaments and bone bruising and was in a cast for 3 months and a brace for another 3. Finished the race though! 

My reasoning for choosing design for this Mosaic class is because I would consider myself to have an artistic eye. I have always loved digital media as well as digital design and am very excited to explore the design aspect more in respects to whatever story the editorial team gives us. Connecting the story with design but also not distracting from the actual story itself is a challenge I am very excited to explore.