One boy moved from Mexico to the United States at age 12. Another earned a college degree in South Korea before immigrating. And a third left Iran at age 13, finished his high school equivalency in the U.K., and started junior college in the U.S. at age 15. Two things tie the three of them together: taking risks and starting a Master's of Fine Arts in Graphic Design at Oklahoma State University. 

Mario Bocanegra, the boy from Mexico, will be one of six newly admitted graduate students in the program. Phil Choo, from Seoul, South Korea, is the graduate program director, and Pouya Jahanshahi is a third-year assistant professor in graphic design. Each brings a fascinating perspective to the discipline, which is exactly what faculty members had in mind when creating the program. 

"We wanted a diverse group so they could complement each other," Jahanshahi says. "Much of graduate learning is to learn from each other."

OSU's MFA in graphic design becomes its first graduate program in studio art (there is an existing program in art history). It will encompass three distinct areas: visual communication, motion graphics, and interaction design (sometimes called user experience design or UX design). According to Choo, no other program in the Big 12 conference has that combination.

Ed note: This article excerpt originally appeared in the 2016 edition of Arts & Sciences Magazine. Please click here to read the full article.