Young but world-class

CEBU, Philippines - Sometimes pursuing a dream seems impossible when you are starting young. But for this young Filipina, who started with doodles,  dreams can come true. Today, she is one of New Jersey’s prides at the age of 20.

She was in her senior year of high school when she left the Philippines. In the middle of enjoying the last few months with her classmates at Cebu Normal University–Integrated Laboratory School, she had to be on a plane to try a new life in the United States.

The plane ride was worth it. She stayed in New Jersey to finish her High School studies and was awarded with a scholarship for her college education by the state. After three years in the prestigious Art Institute of Philadephia, Vina Mariel Cañete, who is mostly known as “Mayet”, is now a graphic design graduate with honors. She has made it to the dean’s list and got the award for the most outstanding for best portfolio.

Her journey to success was not easy. “I really wanted to be an artist. There are a lot of degree programs but I fell in love with graphic design,” Mayet recalled.

One of the biggest challenges as a student was being a Filipina.

“Because of where I came from, I had a lot to prove to them,” Mayet said and she did. “I had to push myself to go beyond what they are expecting from people like us.”

She painstakingly toiled on her plates every night. Her efforts paid off as she was awarded the best of the quarter, several times as a student.

She was an ordinary art student – complying with plates requirements and having fun with the arts. “What I liked best in the institute was having homework parties with my roommate. We cooked the food that we knew and munched on these as we worked all night on our school work,” she narrated. But what set her apart was her drive to become the best.

“I really want to become an art director someday,” Mayet shared. An art director is a person who brainstorms the concept of the output rather than executing it graphically. “I feel like I have more creative freedom when I am the one giving out the ideas,” she explained.

Of course, she never forgot her Filipino roots as some of her projects have incorporated Filipino ideas. One of which was her senior project – a website design for a Davao-based non-government organization named Association of Lay Marian Apostle (ALMA) Incorporated.

“I made the design for ALMA not just for the sake of having a project but to help their cause,” Mayet pointed out. Her parents are active Catholics even abroad.

Now that she has earned her degree, she has landed a job as a junior graphic designer in named the Media and Marketing Group based in New Jersey.

“It’s not bad to look at references to be inspired,” is her advice to all aspiring graphic designers.

“It helps that you know what you want and who you want to become,” she concluded. (FREEMAN)