Ashlyn Young '21—Driven by Design
Although still in her senior year of college, Interior Design major Ashlyn Young ’21 has taken on multiple professional projects on her own. She has also established a small side business doing graphic design. As Young says, “I have always loved anything related to art and design,” but that simply doesn’t express her level of drive and determination. Not only is she thriving as a student in a notably rigorous program with a 3.9GPA, she has been a Residential Assistant (RA) for the past three years and dedicates almost every Saturday to community service.
Last summer, Young’s portfolio made its way in front of the owner of a café in Easton, Mass., called The Beanery on Washington. Young was hired to renovate the space and says, “In total it was a $70,000 renovation. I designed a 1950's home inspired cafe for her—I worked on the project all summer and saw the project from the concept development phase all the way through to construction.” As luck would have it, a regular of the café was also a local business owner, looking to make some changes to his restaurant called Hayashi.
Located in South Easton, Mass., Hayashi is a Japanese restaurant and the owner asked to meet to review her portfolio. Young took this opportunity to share her design ideas with him and she was hired to lead the renovation. Given the immense learning opportunity this project will offer, it was approved by her internship coordinator as her semester long internship. She says, “The design phases I will be completing as a part of my internship are the concept development, schematic design, design development, and construction documentation. I am renovating the facade, the cafe side of his restaurant, bar side, and both restrooms.”
Young says, “Without the internship program and the academic curriculum at Endicott, I wouldn’t have had the skills or confidence to take on these solo design projects, and I wouldn’t have been able to renovate either space. I honestly don’t think I would’ve been able to renovate a cafe or start the renovation of a restaurant on my own, with three years of college behind me, if I went anywhere else. The curriculum and internship program have fully prepared me and given me the confidence and skills needed to take on these major projects on my own.”
In addition to the great project ahead of her, Young will continue to run her graphic design business, which she kicked off earlier this summer. She designed a few faceless portraits of her friends and posted them on her Instagram page. Shortly after, she was contacted by others requesting her designs. She has been recognized by faculty and staff for her accomplishments, and in addition to academics, as a sophomore she won a community service competition—between multiple local schools—without even knowing she was competing! Also in her sophomore year, she was RA of the month for one of the programs she lead—which was community service based. Young is a driven and compassionate student, and a great example of what it means to be a Gull.
Read more student success stories like this and learn more about our Visual and Performing Arts programs, like Young’s, which has been renamed to Interior Architecture as of this fall 2020 semester.
