(Cranberry Township, PA) A Canonsburg resident who experimented with a camera as a hobby during her teenage years enrolled in BC3 @ Cranberry’s associate degree career program in photography, relied on her academic training this spring when preparing for her first two freelance assignments and graduated with honors during Butler County Community College’s 55th commencement May 17.
Grace Barnett, 20, finished the 65-credit photography program offered by BC3 only at its additional location in Cranberry Township with a grade-point average between 3.5 and 3.74 and achieved magna cum laude recognition.
Barnett gained practical experience in March and in April when a BC3 @ Cranberry faculty member and an administrator recommended her to businesses seeking portrait photography.
“I was really honored,” Barnett said. “A lot of people don’t always get that kind of opportunity. It’s kind of hard to come by shoots if they are not recommended to you these days.”
“I learned how to pose people and about lighting techniques, so I reminded myself of those when I was setting up."
Dan Osorno, a BC3 @ Cranberry photography instructor, recommended Barnett to a company seeking photographs of its workers and for use on an employment-focused social media platform.
Dr. Ryan Kociela, BC3 @ Cranberry director, recommended Barnett to a nonprofit organization seeking individual and group photographs of employees for use on its website.
“If there are opportunities for internships, for job shadowing or to gain professional experience, we certainly will try to make those things available to our students,” Kociela said. “We try to get to know our students as much as we can, to find out what their needs are, what their interests are, and what might best benefit each of those students.”
BC3 @ Cranberry’s photography curriculum includes courses in professional digital photography, the art of black and white digital photography, outdoor and wildlife photography, and portrait photography and lighting.
Barnett took photographs for one organization in March in Butler Township, for the other in April in Zelienople and said she relied on the knowledge she gained from BC3 @ Cranberry photography classes.
“I learned how to pose people and about lighting techniques, so I reminded myself of those when I was setting up,” Barnett said. “As I was putting up a backdrop and placing my lighting, I was remembering what angles of lighting were proper to use and also what kind of prompts I could give people that would help them to not be nervous, to put them at ease.”
She said to the employees of the businesses:
“Don’t worry. I understand being nervous. I don’t always enjoy being photographed either.”
“You look great. You have a beautiful smile.”
“What line of work are you in?”
Her photography degree "also enables me to make a side income as well. I can freelance to help support myself.”
Member of BC3 academic honor society
“It was important for me not just to be able to get myself out there, but also to learn how to conduct myself in the business world and get a head start into photography,” Barnett said. “That was an important way to learn how to do that.”
Representatives of the company said “things went well and that they would be using them for their profiles,” Barnett said.
Barnett showcased her portrait, product and nature photography during BC3 @ Cranberry’s portfolio and art show May 5, which was free and open to the public.
She was a member of BC3’s 55-year-old Rho Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international academic honor society for two-year colleges and programs, and has been named to BC3’s president’s list or dean’s list since fall 2021.
“I think it is always important for me to give my best because,” Barnett said, “that’s how you get places. That’s how you succeed.”
Students who attend a community college for their first two years can save an estimated $20,000 on the cost of higher education, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.
Seventy-five percent of BC3’s Class of 2023 graduated debt-free, according to Juli Louttit, the college’s director of financial aid.
“It was important for me to graduate debt-free,” Barnett said, “to not have a lot of financial burden going into the future. As a single person, I probably could not pay that down very quickly. So I would probably be in debt for a long time.
“Paying that off over a large amount of years would probably take a good portion of my income away from other things I could use it for … Possibly buying a house or a car or even travel. Starting a business.”
Freelance “to help support myself”
Photography joins digital audio and video production, and graphic design, as creative and digital arts career programs offered by BC3 only at BC3 @ Cranberry. Students in BC3’s career programs can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.
Students can apply BC3 @ Cranberry’s credits toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
Barnett will transfer this fall to PennWest Edinboro.
“My photography degree will help me to be able to promote myself in the future,” Barnett said. “If I do own a business or do any type of marketing, I won’t have to hire others to do that. So that will save greatly on that kind of expense. It also enables me to make a side income as well. I can freelance to help support myself.”
Barnett is among nearly 53 percent of students in BC3’s Class of 2023 who graduated with honors.
The college’s fall semester begins Aug. 21.
