Penn State senior combines diverse interests through integrative arts major

By Michelle Diamond

Fourth-year student Jaylen Jeffries-El has combined his interests in marketing and advertising through the College of Arts and Architecture’s Integrative Arts program. He will receive a bachelor of arts degree in integrative arts this May.

Jeffries-El, originally a marketing major in the Smeal College of Business, realized that he did not want to focus on the analytical side of marketing, which he was studying as a business student. He then decided he wanted to look into the advertising side, and his advisor pointed him in the direction of the College of Arts and Architecture, where he could pursue multiple areas of study in creative fields.

Following the realization about his academic goals, he found himself in the integrative arts major studying not only marketing, but graphic design and entrepreneurship as well. Jeffries-El is planning to pursue a career in digital marketing.

“The integrative arts major is a major … where I can focus on more than one [subject],” Jeffries-El said. “It’s a place where I can combine three different subjects and focus on all of them separately, but not focusing on one more than the other.”

Throughout his studies, Jeffries-El has taken a variety of courses, ranging from finance, business and supply chain management to graphic design and entrepreneurship, exploring the creative side of his degree.

As an integrative arts major, Jeffries-El said he has gained “a new sense of focus” and an understanding of how to apply this range of different skills after Penn State.

In addition to his studies, Jeffries-El is the programming chair for the Student Black Caucus, the fashion show director for the National Association of Black Accountants and the runway stylist for Eminence Modeling Troupe.

Having had marketing internships in the past, Jeffries-El said he is looking to join an advertising agency come May.

“I would definitely say, be open,” Jeffries-El said, addressing students interested in the integrative arts major. “The integrative arts major has shown that it doesn’t only focus on one specific thing – it’s a broad genre … it helps to not limit yourself.”