My name is Madison Gilstrap, and I was born and raised Greenville, South Carolina. Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to be a Clemson Tiger. It was the only thing that stayed constant through out every answer to the infamous question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Every time I was asked that question, I had a new answer. My answers ranged from being a princess, to an astronaut, a lawyer, and at one point in time, I wanted to be President of United States. All throughout my grade school years, my one goal was to be a student at Clemson. My hard work paid off, and I was accepted into the Clemson University class of 2021. Going into college, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to graduate with a major in Genetics and a minor in Biochemistry and go off to be Dr. Gilstrap. All of that suddenly changed when I realized that I did not have a passion of shaping the world in that way. I knew I needed a change no matter how scary that seemed at the time. Going into Graphic Communications had never once crossed my mind until I found it randomly on the Clemson degree programs page. I never thought of myself as "creative" or "artsy," but I was desperate to get out of what I was doing, and I have always had an interest in art. The next day, I registered for my first introductory graphics class and the rest was history. Ever since then, I fell in love with the design and print industry. I still kept the dream I had when I was little and am now pursuing a law degree in the hopes of becoming a copyright and patent lawyer.
After graduating in May of 2021, I moved to Georgia to work as a graphic designer at Ricoh, USA. In this role, I have been given the opportunity to work with some amazing clients and push my design skills. In the first month of working with Ricoh, I designed and printed over 1000 pieces of print collateral for a charity golf tournament. Also, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with the American Cancer Society to provide them with design and print services for many of their events. Each day at Ricoh I am able to learn something new and better myself as a young professional.
Even though I As a person, I am growing to find my true passion in life. I learned that life's paths aren't always clear, and I realized that doing something you love makes the bad times in life good and the good times in life even better. Even more so, sometimes the path best suited for someone is a path they create themselves. Below are some pictures of my favorite things! Thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit more about me!