Meghan Ciliberti (BDES, Advertising, 2010)

I chose to attend OCAD University because my dad has always spoken very highly of his years at OCA, and I have always been inspired by the level of creativity in his design & artistic practice. He encouraged me be to be creative from a young age in whatever medium I was working in, and he still does to this day. When I was looking for a place where I could continue to expand my imagination and skills, he showed me that there is no better place for that than OCAD.

Even now, I look back upon the time spent working on my thesis and truly felt like that was my fondest memory while at OCAD. Spending a year and a half mostly on one major project seems overwhelming, but it was a great practical example of working on a campaign from start to finish. I was also fortunate enough to be selected to present my thesis to an industry panel, and although daunting at the time, was an amazing experience that provided me with validation that my ideas and execution was strong.

Learning how to properly create a structured project - from ideation all the way to presentation - has been incredibly useful for me in every role I have held post-graduation. Being able to present your idea and receive critiques about it, is crucial in project management and leadership. I’m often asked to speak at various industry conferences throughout Canada and the USA, and credit OCAD U with helping me to prepare for those, as I rely on my storytelling and copywriting skills to craft effective ways to share information. I also learned to solve problems creatively, which is something I use in my daily role.

While I was attending OCAD U, I was also working at Apple as a trainer, as well as helping my father with various projects at his company. I continued both of those post-graduation for several years. I currently work at Shopify, managing a part of the Technology Experience team.
I get to interact with various teams and stakeholders on a daily basis - UX, Brand, Security, Talent etc. - and help influence their practices with internal technology. I also get to do some hands-on design work here and there, which is always fun.

My advice for current students is DO NOT PLAY IT SAFE! While you’re at OCAD U, this is the perfect time to really stretch your imagination and think outside the box, even if that sounds cliché - it’s true. It is the type of environment where inspiration can be found everywhere, so really immerse yourself in as much as you can while you’re here.