The Art of Digital Design

Rebecca Morgan had her life planned out. She had just graduated from Tacoma’s Stadium High School and was in the running for a full-ride scholarship at a private university, but ultimately her application was passed over. The sudden cost of tuition combined with becoming pregnant with her first son led Morgan to put her plans on hold. Nearly two decades later, when her youngest of three sons graduated from high school, Morgan decided to pick up where she left off.

Morgan began her academic career at Pierce College, where she pursued an associate’s degree in digital design before transferring to UW Tacoma. Her choice of transfer school was partially informed by a family connection. “My oldest son went to school at UW Tacoma, my dad went to UW way back in the 1950s,” she said. “It’s a school that runs in our family.”

Morgan cites her time homeschooling her three sons as preparation for college life: “I really had to learn time management. I wasn’t just managing my day, but all three of my kids and their own specific school schedules,” she explained.

Morgan’s experiences at Pierce College set her up for her degree choice. “The digital design degree was very broad reaching and covered lots of different areas of design,” she said. “I decided to focus on web design, and found that the technical communication major would let me learn more about web design while pursuing a bachelor’s degree.”

Morgan’s interest in web design extends beyond her academic life. She currently works for the Tacoma-based candy company Brown & Haley (makers of Almond Roca), working on their website and doing graphic design work. She plans to take what she has learned from UW Tacoma’s technical communication program and apply it to her work, and then start a freelance web design business on the side.

Morgan’s lifelong passion for art has been an important part of her time outside of school and work. She has regularly entered her work in the Washington State Fair, as well as judged the Fair’s art show a couple of times, and briefly maintained gallery space at the Freighthouse Square Art Gallery. You can view her artistic and design portfolio at www.rsmorganart.com.

When Morgan started at UW Tacoma a couple of years ago, she was only able to take one class at a time because of her full-time work schedule. She continued as a part-time student until last spring, when the lockdown began. Morgan says that the flexibility provided by the online-only format was what allowed her to become a full-time student. “I like the flexibility of doing classes online and the teachers have also been really flexible, wanting to know what works well for their students and basically serving us before we even get started with the quarter and making sure that we’re going to be successful.”

Morgan is excited for post-graduation life. She plans to continue working and expanding her skillset but may return for a master’s degree at some point. “Graduating to me means that I’ve completed my goal and that I’m going to have more free time for things that I want to do, whether it’s back to traditional artwork or spending more time with my family,” she said.