MICA supporters are as special as they are diverse. Enjoy our featured "Why I Give" story.

Anonymous Alumni Donor

I graduated from MICA in 1967, and a military draft notice was waiting for me at home. A friend who lived through WW2 gave me advice to join the Navy. I was a Navy photographer.  What I was taught at MICA served me well in life, and in the Navy. I did learn the Zone system at MICA (originated by Ansel Adams). The visual training is what made the difference as well as the technical training. Critical thinking visually was what made the biggest difference. I made it through the Vietnam period, and I used a film camera, not a gun. One of my attachments was to an aircraft carrier as a combat photographer, and thankfully I never saw combat since the carrier was stationed on the east coast. In any case, there was plenty of action on an aircraft carrier to photograph.

Later, I supervised the photo lab at the University of Maryland. I was found at the University, fortunately, by my department head who noted my degree from MICA. I then worked for a short period as a graphic artist. 

Later I moved on to be the manager of a graphics department at General Physics Corporation who found my photographic skills very useful in their instructional work training nuclear power plant operators.  Many of the nuclear engineers I worked with were former Navy nuclear submarine officers.

My education and training at MICA made all the difference, and today I am retired after running my own business for 30 years.