Winning Socktober designer (Athletic Sock) Meredith Viox grew up in Maineville, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.
She remembered, “I chose OU because of the atmosphere of the campus, and because of the Visual Communications program. I fell in love the second I stepped foot into Athens.” She cited the people (friends, coworkers, professors, etc.), nature all around, and all the coffee shops as some of her favorite aspects of OHIO campus life.
“My favorite non-design class has been Intro to Entrepreneurship with Krystal Geyer. She is an outstanding professor, and she taught me so much!”
She added that hands-on learning like the pitch contest are what set an OHIO education apart. “Experiential learning has been so important to me during my time at Ohio. Having classes where we work with real life clients has been very beneficial to my professional development as well as my portfolio. I think it is very impactful for students to get their heads outside of a ‘classroom environment’ and prepare them for what it may be like post-grad.”
Viox continued her love of experience-based learning by spending the past summer completing a photography internship at a summer camp in New Hampshire. Now set to graduate in December, she is the University Communication and Marketing’s lead student video producer as well a a social media content creator for Snowville Creamery.
Oh, and you might call her a socks expert. She laughed, “I am proud to say I have never lost a sock to the Ohio University laundry machines, and I have always had a pleasant experience washing my clothes!”
Winning Socktober student designer (Dress Sock) Abby Burns hails from Mason, Ohio. She followed her older sister to OHIO, where she began as a Graphic Design major before shifting to VisCom. One of her favorite things about this highly regarded program is how OHIO’s focus on experiential learning sets her and her classmates apart from the competition with employers.
She explained, “Having done projects with clients that work for actual companies that need design work done from us is such an asset as a student. Being able to say that you have done work for the Ronald McDonald House and the Cleveland Clinic as a student…not only gives you connections to use post-graduation but it helps get students to be in the professional mindset when working with real world clients.”
While Burns was a student at the time of the design contest, she has since graduated and is currently working for RUDIS (a prominent name in wrestling apparel) in Marysville, Ohio as a seasonal graphic designer, where she works with a design team creating custom wrestling gear for high schools and colleges across America. She is working toward a potential permanent full-time role with the company.
She counts “My amazing friend group who will be a part of my life forever” and “the passion and spirit each student has for Ohio University” as some of her favorite things about campus.
And as for why everyone can always use more socks? “I like to think there is a growing sock graveyard behind each dorm building. I have lost an absurd amount of socks to the OHIO laundry rooms.”