From the moment I stepped out of the elevator on my first day at Stone Ward, I was caught by surprise to see multi-colored walls and artwork. I know people who have gone through the Camp Reality before and thought I had a general idea of what to expect — but I was wrong.

There’s great attention to detail in the building that as a creative, I adore – brightly colored walls, plants, wide open spaces with windows, painted fixtures and an abundance of artwork. It all made me a bit giddy. Work environment plays an important role to me as a creative, and I’ve always made work a “home” for myself, because it makes me feel safe and able to create. For a company to already pre-create something stunned me. Sure, I brought a few things to decorate my work area and make me happier, but I would have been fine without. The orange vibrant walls stimulate the creative process much more effectively than the typical beige boredom found in most offices.

The environment was great, only topped by the people. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect, but I was beyond pleasantly surprised. Everyone here at Stone Ward is intrinsically nice and helpful. Truly, we are here to learn and work — no coffee fetching. The variety of people all housed in one place have genuinely helped me learn and grow as an individual. My workplace for the next few weeks wasn’t anything like I’d imagined. Before, I only had one or two people to report to, but now there are several, and my work had to go through multiple pairs of eyes before client presentation. That definitely broadened my perspective and led to me being more detail oriented in my work.

I think most of all what I learned is that yes, this is what I want to do. I want to work at a place where people are able to be themselves, socialize and bring their dogs. I want to work at a place filled with laughter, all while being a top ad agency. I want to work down to the wire to create something great that I can be proud of. Through this experience, I gained confidence in my ability, in my skills and am now able to say yes, I am a graphic designer, and yes, I KNOW this is what I want to do. It’s priceless to embrace that this is your calling, and you are one hundred and ten percent sure that you are on the right career path. My doubts are erased.

Thank you, Stone Ward, for this experience. It is something I will treasure and remember. Let’s stay friends!