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Keri Filsinger: Interior Design
Keri Filsinger is ready for the future – one she has designed. The Interior Design student is in the associates of Applied Sciences program. She spent a lot of time looking into different degree programs in the area. "I thought SCC made the most sense as far as a program that was going to allow me to go right into the workforce," she said. "I thought that the program was really comprehensive with a big focus on occupational placement."
That placement was important to Filsinger. She has spent a lot of her 20s moving around the country doing yoga and real estate photography. She then made her way out west to be closer to family. She has been in Phoenix for almost three years now and decided to make the leap to go back to college two years ago.
"I've wanted to be an interior designer since I was a young teenager," Filsinger said. "What really attracted me to the field is vintage furniture and mid-century homes. So, for me, the ideal thing is to be an interior designer, and also be able to be a purveyor of vintage furniture, restoring and refurbishing old pieces that can get a new life in someone’s home."
Filsinger knows she landed at the right place; she has enjoyed every class she has taken – especially the courses that use AutoCAD. "I love being able to apply the AutoCAD classes within the courses that I'm taking now, for instance, interior materials where we're learning about fixtures and interior finishes. I've also really liked space planning and definitely presentation techniques. Those have allowed me to use my digital rendering skills and really start to develop a portfolio."
Filsinger says the SCC faculty in her program are truly invested in our success and growth. So when she asks for any additional help, even outside of the classroom, they are fast to provide any assistance they can.
"Having an advisor has helped keep me on track with my degree requirements, making sure I checked all the boxes on my electives and just having a resource there who could guide me through my program requirements was really helpful," she said.
Her favorite part of Scottsdale Community College has been the engaging classes. "Having a small class size is really wonderful for being able to connect with your professors and be able to get even more out of the class than just sitting down and learning the material. The community college experience is so immersive, and really lets you get in touch with what it is that you want to do. There's a focus on getting yourself into the career field. So, it's not just a hypothetical academic experience."
Filsinger is an advocate for community colleges, saying it's the best decision she's made. Her first associate's was at a community college and her dad taught at community college. Directly after high school, she went to college. She was pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology.
"It was really exciting," she remembers. "I got to do research in my field. I published a few journal articles, and it was very fulfilling. But I didn't see myself pursuing it beyond a bachelor's level. So, I found that my career was pretty limited as far as the fields that I could practice in with a bachelor's degree. I'd always had a side of me that was very creative, that wasn't really engaged within the psychology field. When I moved to Arizona, it was the perfect opportunity to start looking into school again. Interior design had been my passion for a long time, so I thought why not do it for a career, and I decided to enroll at SCC."