Jul 25, 2012

With camera and whiteboard in hand, College of the Mainland intern Wardah Ajaz toured the campus recording students' perspectives of COM. The senior majoring in communications at University of Houston-Clear Lake used students' words and pictures as she developed the new COM commercial through her internship with COM’s Marketing and Communications Department. 

Ajaz, who was born in Pakistan and grew up in Saudi Arabia, first became interested in media and design when she began using Adobe Photoshop. “I would work on Photoshop when I was a kid,” Ajaz said. “I always knew I wanted to do something related to Photoshop.” She gradually became interested in editing videos and graphic design. “I’m expanding my skills with Premiere, a video editing software. Previously, I’d used Final Cut for my class. I can see the similarities and differences. I like doing videos from beginning to end,” said Ajaz.

Ajaz spent 10 hours per week working on a variety of projects for Marketing and Communications. COM multimedia designer Scott Turnbough, who works with Ajaz, said she has made valuable contributions to the team. “Wardah has a really good sense of design. She brings fresh eyes to the table and is able to relate to our audience with fresh designs. When she leaves, she’ll have real-world experience with things that she can put in her portfolio.”

Ajaz is applying to graduate schools and for professional jobs and hopes to one day to work in the communications field.