When Leeahnn Victorio was a first year student at Portland State, she accidentally took the yellow MAX train instead of the green train. Then she realized her phone was dead. This would be overwhelming for any new college student, but for Victorio, who is legally blind, it is also a favorite memory.
She hopped off the yellow train when she realized her mistake and figured out how to transfer to the green line. She took the green train to its last stop and then remembered the way to walk to her final destination.
“I didn't know how to navigate in the United States yet, so I got lost and had to figure things out on my own,” she says. “It was really interesting and it was the most memorable experience for me because it taught me how to trust myself and trust my gut more, to be more aware and be more prepared for circumstances I may eventually face.”
Victorio’s ability to turn a stressful situation into an opportunity for growth is one of her strengths—both as a person and as an artist.
When she moved to the United States from the Philippines five years ago, she had to navigate both culture shock and her disability. This took a toll on her mental health and her high school grades.
But when she learned that PSU had a strong graphic design program, she decided to apply.
“I wasn’t accepted at first,” she says. “I wrote a letter to PSU asking them to review my application again. I’m so glad I got in because I have really enjoyed my experience here.”
Leeahnn VictorioVictorio’s tenacious spirit has led her to excel at PSU. Meredith James, who taught Victorio in a few courses, describes her as “exceptionally driven and exceptionally talented” and “one of the strongest students our design program has ever had.”
While Victorio says she’s enjoyed all her design courses, her senior thesis and portfolio class have been standouts. “I like the environment in the studio where you can hang out with people and see what they’re working on,” she says. “We also meet with guest speakers who talk about how the industry works. They provide lots of perspective.”
Outside of class, Victorio has been involved with Comma, a group for students of color in the graphic design department, and she does volunteer work to help make graphic design more accessible.
“Accessibility is something that's often overlooked because there are not a whole lot of people in the industry like me—a person with a disability,” she says. “So I feel like I need to step in for people who can't speak out or don't have the design background I do.”
One of her favorite projects was to make a virtual reality space more accessible and user friendly. “Normally VR is not very accessible for blind people,” she says. “I made it so that anyone can interact with it.”
Although being a student during a pandemic was really difficult, Victorio says her experiences at PSU—as challenging as they were at times—have changed her for the better.
“In my time in Portland State, I feel like I'm more liberated in a way. I can talk more and be more vulnerable about my own mental health,” she says. “That’s what I really like about PSU— that I can just talk really about anything and feel like I have some safe space that I can turn to.”
Victorio’s identity as an artist has also grown over the past four years. “I'm most proud of how I turn my negative experiences into something beautiful. My practice revolves around putting Filipino culture in a very contemporary light and putting mundane experience in a very conceptual form. That's really unique to me and helps me feel more at home in the United States. I like to think of it as design for healing.”
After she graduates, Victorio plans to take time to rest and reflect on her journey. She wants to get a job in the design industry and one day hopes to open her own studio. “I'll continue my work on my practice and expand design into something that's unique to me,” she says.
Her advice to current and future PSU students? “Life is like a roller coaster, and whatever happens, happens. Somehow we’ve just got to take it in and just reflect on it. Remember that your work doesn't really define you, take a break once in a while and practice good health. Be full of love for yourself and for everything that you’ve encountered—sometimes that's all we need to have is just some kind of love.”