I am a design student. Apparel design, actually. Yes we love to be creative and work hands-on. No, it doesn't mean we are weird or quirky, or color pictures every day. People seem to have misconceptions of what it is truly like being a design major, so I have decided to crack down on some stereotypes, and write about the design school as a whole.

The first thought that comes to my mind being an apparel design student, is a number of hours that we put into our major. We often pull all-nighters in the studio when a project deadline is approaching, and not to mention the three-hour studio classes we have twice a week (which still isn't enough time). Our major is designed of usually three big projects a semester, instead of a paper or tests throughout like other courses. We present our garments to the class when we are finished, and they sometimes even make it into a fashion show. That being said, we are all perfectionists and need our projects to be "runway ready" instead of just lacking on studying for a test, or turning in a half finished paper.

No, we don't color pictures every day. When others think about a design student, their minds often jump to drawing or painting because that is a broad idea of design in itself. The design school is broken up into a few different majors all consisting of very different courses and aspects we dive into. For apparel design specifically, we learn everything about the apparel industry from basic sewing, to pattern making from scratch, all the way to Optitex, an online software that allows us to simulate a fake model. Sewing is also not all we do. We learn the entire design process from creating mood boards to sketching ideas, to creating a final garment with set deliverables.

Throughout the last two years of college, I have had a lot of fun with my courses and major as a whole. People are often surprised or caught off guard when I mention my major is apparel design. It is a different major that is not as common, but it is so much fun and so exciting to truly be learning more about my passion every day. I often get the question "Is it fun?" and my answer is honestly, yes. Who else gets to say that for an entire class period, they got to draw/watercolor/etc. their designs or sit at a sewing machine and create something?

Because we are design majors, people often ask us to make them clothes, design their houses, etc. That'd be fun and all, but we don't even have the time to make things for ourselves! That time-consuming work I mentioned before really clogs up all of your time, and not to mention even having a job outside of school, or having a social life on top of that. And sorry, no, my classes aren't like project runway...okay, maybe a little.

I've had so much fun learning about apparel design as a whole throughout my last two years at college. It truly is great to live out my passion every day and to be learning about something so interesting to me. So if you do get anything out of this article, I hope you realize that it is actually hard work for us design majors and that we honestly don't just color pictures for homework.