Jaythan Elam: My name is Jaythan Elam. I am the senior designer for Carbon Five. Carbon Five creates unique software. You name it, we think it up.

I think one of the things that really excites me about Center Centre is the real-world application. Particularly with design and technology, you know sort of intersection, is that students aren't applied to real-world applications. It's like, "dream something up and make it". Where in the real world there's a lot more constraints involved, and you guys are very interested in exposing students to that earlier as opposed to when they get out and go into the real world. 

The education I got was certainly more centered in design as an art form and I think having individuals come in from different areas and different industries to talk about how design can be impactful for them is pretty big.

I was very excited and surprised to learn that design could be applied in a lot of different ways. I would have liked to certainly have experienced more of that in school, as a way of forming my education, certainly. I think students need to be exposed to the fact that design can be in just about everything. Whether it's making something look pretty or solving problems. That's really what you're doing is solving problems. 

I wish my education did a better job of introducing different areas of design professions. Maybe that was just because of the time period in which I came out, it wasn't as diverse but I still think there were opportunities even in the internships that I had to go out and get on my own. I was surprised to find some of the avenues that were available. I would've liked my education system to have fought for that more.

The opportunity to have spent less time in school and have that school be more focused on getting my hands dirty and learning as I do, I would've rather have done that than spend the four or fives years I did in state school.