Fall 2021 Semester Recap

Semester Recap Spring 2021 at Kent State Oh, how I wish I could go back and tell my freshman year self to soak it up—every dang second! I blinked and suddenly I’m halfway through my college experience. For those of you who are new, I am a student at Kent State University pursuing my degree in Fashion Merchandising with a minor in Fashion Media. Mid-December I finished up the fall semester of my third year and as per usual, I’m sitting down today to round up my semester. 

I always like to take time and reflect on my classes, professors, final projects, and more. Not only is it fun for me to look back on, but it gives you future fashion students a peek into college life + the workload you’ll endure! I’ll leave my previous semester recaps linked down below in case you’re interested in checking those out too! 

freshman fall 2019 recap // freshman spring 2020 recap // sophomore fall 2020 recap // sophomore spring 2021 recap

PROFESSIONAL SEMINAR (3)

Hillary Stone
Rating: 9/10
Grade: A
Tuesday/Thursday Online 9:15-10:30

For many students, Professional Seminar is the first class where they will meet and interact with Hillary Stone. Professor Stone is someone who is widely respected not only within the fashion school but within the industry. She is well known with connections to practically anyone you could imagine. 

Throughout this lecture course, she prepares you for life after college. Each week is spent prepping a new means to help you land an internship and a potential job post-grad. Professor Stone makes the lecture portion of this course very interactive, leading open-ended discussions with her students.

Each week there is an assignment corresponding with what was taught—a resume, cover letter, practice interview, and more. Although she is a stern professor, she is an incredibly easy grader. As long as you participate and do your work you should get 100% in this course. The final exam is a timed essay regarding where you see yourself in five years. 

Additionally, Professor Stone encourages you to set up a one on one appointment with her at some point throughout the semester to help guide you in landing an internship. She teaches over 150 students, therefore, getting to know her on a personal level is essential in order to land letters of recommendation + job insight. I met with her on several different occasions and she helped me land my summer 2022 internship in Malibu, California with Lyndie Benson. 

FASHION FORECASTING (3)

Catherine Leslie
Rating: 10/10
Grade: A
No online meet time  

I know online learning isn’t for everyone but I personally love it. Fashion Forecasting was offered entirely online this semester and I really enjoyed getting to choose the pace in which I work at. Fashion forecasting is all about predicting new trends using existing forecasting tools like WGSN. 

Each week you are assigned a PowerPoint to read through and take notes on and a quiz that corresponds. There are three exams throughout the semester, each proctored and closed book. As long as you study the previous quizzes and definitions you will be good to go.

Throughout the entire semester, you will work on creating a forecast complete with a color story, fabric story, trend board, mood board, brand research, and more. The final project is worth most of your grade and ends up being around 25 slides. Although it sounds intimidating at first, not only are you able to choose the brand you forecast but you’re assigned a couple of slides each week.

 I’m usually not a huge fan of projects that last this long but this one was incredibly manageable. Plus, it was nice to put what we were learning about into practice each week. I did my final forecast on Lulus, creating a summer 2022/2023 collection of swimwear + versatile beachwear. I ended up receiving the highest number of recommendations at the end of the year, more than any of my 108 classmates and 100%. I was so excited! 

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (3)

Lisa Valendza
Rating: 7/10
Grade: A
Tuesday 3:30-4:45

In Fashion Fabrics, you learn all about different materials and in Planning & Buying you learn how to use excel to create a 6-month plan. In Product Development, you put the two of these things together to create coast sheets. You will learn how much X amount of materials cost to source and Y amount of labor cost to produce. 

This is another course where gradually throughout the semester you will be applying everything you know into a final project. For this project you will work with three other classmates, choosing a brand and article of clothing. For example, my group chose Express jeans. Roughly 20 slides later you will create a presentation sharing six different styles, a cost breakdown of each, a marketing plan, trend forecast, and more. 

Truthfully, not much goes on during the class time. Professor Valendza was incredibly flexible and essentially used class time to announce an assignment and give us time to work on it. There are readings each week and 4 corresponding quizzes throughout the semester. She has two exams, one mid-term and one final, covering the materials taught. They are very easy and as long as you have done the readings + completed the quizzes you should have no issue getting an A. 

PLANNING & BUYING (3)

Marji Wachowiak
Rating: 5/10
Grade: A
Tuesday 11:00-12:15

Planning and Buying was hands down the hardest class I’ve taken throughout my time at Kent and undoubtedly my least favorite. This class essentially teaches you everything you need to know about merchandising. For me, it taught me that I never, and I mean never, want to be a buyer. Each week you spend hours in Excel learning different equations to help forecast last year’s sales vs this year’s sales. 

In creating a six-month plan you will break down how many items you need to order in various sizes and colors. Each week you will learn a new skill/equation and by the end of the semester, you will have enough knowledge to create an entire six-month plan on your own, creating a men’s line forecast for Autumn/Winter 22/23. 

Each week you are assigned an Excel workbook and are expected to do an online reading + questionnaire, as well as complete two quizzes. I struggled to get by on the quizzes no matter how long I spent on them but thankfully ended the year with an A still. Ask for help and Professor Marji will recognize how hard you’re trying!

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS (3)

William Perine
Rating: 8/10
Grade: A
No online meet time 

Computer Applications goes hand in hand with Planning and Buying. Although it’s not a prerequisite for Planning and Buying, it definitely is helpful if you’ve taken it beforehand and not at the same time. Thankfully I had professor William who is known as being one of the most chill, understanding professors within the fashion school. 

He is very disorganized, always uploading the wrong link or posting something days later but he makes this class more than manageable. Each week you learn a new Excel skill (very similar to what you learn in Planning and Buying). However, William creates a step-by-step YouTube video walking you through each problem on every assignment. You spend lots of time working on Pivot Tables which I’ve been told is a huge part of a buyers day to day role.

His exams are very manageable, just further elaborating on the skills he teaches you each week and he removed the final exam which was a blessing! 

After what I was told would be my hardest semester within the fashion school, I’m pleased to say I received straight A’s. It was a challenging semester at times but yet again I was reminded how far my dedication and self-discipline really can take me! I definitely enjoyed being back in the classroom for part of my days but also loved being able to complete a majority of my work from the comfort of my apartment. I think the mix is good and look forward to pursuing it again in the spring! 

I resumed the “mom role” of the apartment cooking dinner for the roomies most nights, cleaning around the place, and doing laundry each week. It’s been quite the treat having my own bedroom and bathroom and even nicer to be living with three of my best friends again. 

This semester I did not take on any roles in extracurriculars. While I have been a part of clubs in the past, I found myself busy enough with greek life, Styled by work, and landing a summer internship. 

Don’t get me wrong—I still made time for fun! I enjoyed my last sorority recruitment at Kent, having a “life in 3D” themed Bid Day with my besties. I finally found the friend group I’d been hoping for, growing much closer to my littles and their roommates. With Covid lightening up we were able to have a chapter in person on Sundays, a $5 prom-themed date party, and our semi-formal! 

I made it to a couple of different football games, enjoying a little tailgating with the baseball team and our fraternities beforehand. My parents were able to visit too which was, of course, a blast! I went to a Riley Green concert, enjoyed many Wednesday nights at the Dusty Armadillo, and ventured out to more frat parties with my girlfriends. 

In the midst of all the school craziness, I was still able to clock in roughly 40 hours a week landing huge brand deals, shooting photos on the weekend, and traveling to New York City, Los Angeles, and Charleston for content trips. It’s definitely been my most challenging semester in terms of finding a balance between work and enjoying my last year of Kent and yet I still made it happen.

I’ve been trying my hardest to soak up every moment I can, saying yes to every random Dairy Queen runs as I know my time in this tiny little college town is dwindling. More than anything, I’m so grateful for friends that feel like family and a home away from home. I’ve got one last semester in Kent before my study abroad semester and graduation…. cheers to the beginning of the end!

With love, McKenz

Latest Post: A Guide To Nokomis, Florida This Winter
Related Post: Junior Year of College Room Tour (With Links)
Instagram: styledbymckenz //YouTube: McKenzie Morgan //Pinterest: mckenzmorgan