A Future Paved with Creativity, Talent, & Hard Work: Nadia’s Story

Filled with enthusiasm, passion, and an upbeat attitude, Nadia is a talented young woman employU is proud to call a client. Growing up, creativity seemed to run through her veins. Even as a child, she practiced photography, and through her photos, her skill and innovation were apparent. But her biggest passion? Illustration. Now, as a student at the University of Central Florida, Nadia is refining her artist talents while pursuing a future where she can turn her lifelong passion into a fulfilling career. 

Diagnosed with high-functioning autism, Nadia has challenges with reading social cues, socializing with others, fixating on topics of interest, and understanding things that may come naturally to other people. However, she has found a way to use her art to overcome many of these challenges.  “It allows me to not only create characters that help me through certain situations, but allows me to express the way that I think and feel in a way that is easy to understand,” explains Nadia. 

Nadia came to employU looking for work experience to prepare her for the future ahead. She was placed with employU’s marketing department for two on-the-job trainings (OJTs) that spanned a total of four months. During her OJTs, Nadia was given a pretty big project – design and create a comic book that helped explain the in-person and virtual services of employU’s Transition Youth Program. This meant Nadia was in charge of not only illustrating the entire comic book, but also creating the characters and layout. 

Not only did Nadia complete the project, but her supervisors were blown away by her talent and work ethic. Nadia’s passion for art was visible in every detail of her illustrations. She was also full of ideas and solutions that contributed to the overall planning and completion of the project as a whole.

“My experience with employU was a great one; it allowed me to practice not only graphic design and comic creation, but how to work from home, work around a schedule, and pay attention to the needs of a client when creating something meant to help others. I am really excited that my comic will be used to help introduce students to the amazing program (and amazing people) that is employU,” Nadia tells us.  

Currently, Nadia is working towards completing coursework at UCF while also writing and illustrating a children’s book about a young girl who has autism. She hopes to create a life of independence while using her talents to thrive in a successful career filled with creativity. She would love to one day create comic strips and animated cartoons for all ages. employU is fully confident that Nadia’s talent will bring her many exciting opportunities to do just that!