Lander University graduate assistant Harrison Love couldn’t settle for just one degree from Lander. After earning his Bachelor of Science in Visual Art Education in 2021, he knew that Lander’s MEd program would help him sharpen his teaching skills and make him a more marketable teacher candidate in the future.
“I wanted to improve my teaching skills, focus on a specialty and further develop my leadership skills,” Love said.
That chosen specialty for Love was Instructional Technology, one of the three concentrations in Lander’s MEd in Teaching and Learning program. As an art educator, the Instructional Technology concentration has encouraged Love to consider the ways education technology can enhance a student’s experience in the classroom and beyond it.
“I have been introduced to up-to-date ways to infuse creativity, problem-solving, collaboration and communication into my teaching and student learning,” he said. “I use these skills every day to support the field, collaborate with other leaders and engage in innovative initiatives to integrate and expand the effective use of education technology.”
While an undergrad at Lander, Love stayed plugged into student life through his participation in several student clubs and organizations. He spent three years as a resident assistant, which he said helped him build friendships with staff and residents that were helpful to him when he transitioned into his role as a graduate assistant. Love was also a member of the Call Me Mister program for four years. “It was a great journey to be part of it, where I learned to become an effective role model as a future educator,” Love said.
Love’s undergraduate art projects also received praise from his faculty and his peers. His mixed media piece, titled “Heart of a Sinner,” won first place in the FALS Most Popular Vote. The piece was Love’s first ever juried exhibit submission. And if you visit the Academic Success Center, you’ll find one of Love’s paintings of the bell tower of Laura Lander Hall on display behind the check-in desk.
Now that he’s a grad student at Lander, Love’s graduate assistantship has opened the doors to assisting different student organizations in the Office of Student Life. As an artist, he’s helped design marketing materials for Greek Week, Transfer Week and several other campus events. He even helped with designs for Level Up, the new club for students who transferred to Lander from another institution.
Love’s artwork has been used for promotion all over Lander’s campus—even on t-shirts, which is something he takes a lot of pride in. “The most rewarding part of my job as a graduate assistant is seeing Lander students wearing my artwork in public,” said Love. “It’s like seeing an art gallery come alive, walking around on campus.”