Alumni Spotlight: J'lyn Smith

J'lyn Smith graduated from Providence Cristo Rey High School in 2016, and is a sophomore at the University of Indianapolis. Read on to learn more about his photography business and future plans! Check out some of his photography work at the end of this article.

NAME: J'lyn Smith, Class of 2016

COLLEGE: University of Indianapolis

MAJOR: International Business

HOBBIES: Photography, graphic design, video production

Thanks for catching up with us, J'lyn! Tell us about your sophomore year at UIndy.

Everything is going well so far. My favorite class this semester is Supply Chain Management. The thing I am most looking forward to this year is studying abroad in Taiwan. I actually just spoke to someone at the university today about getting that process started.

Wow, Taiwan! Why are you interested in that?

I learned about the Taiwan study abroad opportunity when I was applying to UIndy, and it's just something I've really wanted to do since then.

I am not 100% sure what I want to do with my career, but I am interested in living and working in different countries.

You used to take event photos for our school when you were a student, and we recently hired you to take photos of a soccer game for us. What has it been like to have more time to explore this hobby?

It has been great! In my free time, I've been teaching myself editing skills from courses I find online. I've even started playing around with creating 3D modeling and animation with Cinema 4D.

A few of my friends have let me take pictures of them to help build my portfolio, and over the summer I started reaching out to different artists and companies for freelance work.

I actually reached out to Monster Energy on Twitter to see if they needed any photography work for their concert series. They responded, and I was able to get media credentials for the 21 Savage show at the Murat.

That is awesome. Anything else you'd like to add about how you're doing?

I'd like to say thank you. I honestly feel like this school has molded me into who I am today. The scholarship that PCR has for us to go to UIndy (a full housing & tuition scholarship) is a big help. It is honestly such a good weight to have off of my shoulders. So, thank you for everything you've done for me.

Thanks, J'lyn! We are so proud of you and can't wait to hear about Taiwan.

Check out some of J'lyn's photography work here: