最新天美传媒

When Kristina Oliva crossed the stage at the 最新天美传媒 to receive her master鈥檚 degree in mass communication, she could not have predicted that the decision would eventually lead her to one of the world鈥檚 largest tech companies, Meta, or building a life thousands of miles from home in London.

Now, nearly a decade later, she said it was an inner voice telling her that was the start of her career path that compelled her to go

Today, Oliva is a product designer at Meta at the company鈥檚 London headquarters, where she works on buyer and consumer advertising experiences across Facebook and Instagram. Drawn to London鈥檚 history and culture as a global city, she鈥檚 lived there for nearly five years as she pursues a field that combines her love of art and skill as a designer, with the analytical skills she gained earning her master鈥檚 degree in mass communications at USF. The 2017 graduate says without her USF experience, her career and now life abroad likely wouldn鈥檛 have been possible.

A native of Miami, Oliva鈥檚 interest in art and design began early. She attended Design and Architecture Senior High (DASH), one of the city鈥檚 magnet schools for the arts. While completing her standard coursework, she was immersed in creative disciplines and discovered digital design through an elective course.

鈥淚 fell in love with digital design in high school,鈥� Oliva said. 鈥淏ut after graduation, I realized I needed to turn that passion into a career.鈥�

She earned her undergraduate degree from Ringling College of Art and Design, but as graduation approached, practical questions loomed. Like many creative students, she faced pressure to translate her artistic interests into a sustainable profession.

鈥淭hat was always a big conversation with my family,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey really wanted to make sure I could leave college and support myself.鈥�

Drawn to the Tampa Bay region and certain she wanted to continue her education, Oliva enrolled in USF鈥檚 mass communication graduate program and worked full time while attending classes at night 鈥� a demanding schedule she describes as formative. 鈥淚t was really long days and a really hard two years,鈥� she added.

While in Tampa, Oliva gained early professional experience at a small startup through Ringling alumni connections, working on digital design and e-commerce websites for national clients such as Payless and AutoNation. The role introduced her to large-scale digital products at a time when mobile design was rapidly expanding.

"I would not be the product designer I am today without having had the experience at USF..." 鈥� Kristina Oliva 

That alumni network proved critical again as she set her sights on big tech. While assembling her portfolio after graduating from USF, a former Ringling classmate working at Instagram referred her to Meta鈥檚 product design rotation program for recent graduates.

鈥淚 was like, 鈥楪reat 鈥� whatever gets my foot in the door,鈥欌�� Oliva said.

She relocated to Seattle, where she joined a team focused on advertiser tools in a role that blended her design background with what she had learned at USF about communication, media and marketing strategy.

鈥淭here are a lot of different layers to it,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou need the visual design elements, but also the analytical side,鈥� she said. "I would not be the product designer I am today without having had the experience at USF to be able to combine that art background into this role."

鈥淏eing a product designer is actually like being a scientist in a lot of ways:  We form hypotheses, we test those hypotheses. We analyze data to see how, you know, our test performed. And then we iterate.鈥�

After four years in Seattle, Oliva began looking abroad and looked to London, where she鈥檚 had initially traveled to while in high school but then visited more frequently as a Meta team member collaborating with colleagues. 鈥淚t was a city I was drawn to because of the history, because it鈥檚 so beautiful,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are people here from everywhere. I wanted to feel like I was part of the world at large.

鈥溾�� Mass communication teaches you how media is created and consumed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 helped me interpret the world more thoughtfully, especially during really tumultuous social times.鈥�

Looking back, Oliva says her defining career decisions were guided less by conventional wisdom and more by intuition 鈥� including her choice to pursue graduate school, which many questioned at the time.

鈥淓very single person said I shouldn鈥檛 go,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey told me it didn鈥檛 make sense. But I knew it was the right thing for me.鈥�

Now, she offers simple advice to students charting their own paths.

鈥淔ollow your gut,鈥� Oliva said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to make sense later on. Just do what excites you.鈥�