Student/Alumni Profiles

Meet LaSheena McAfee
B.F.A. in Fashion Marketing

While many of the people she graduated with from high school were unsure about their futures, LaSheena McAfee knew exactly what she wanted to do: get the best fashion marketing education she could. She enrolled at American InterContinental University in Buckhead within months of finishing high school. She got a lot more than she expected, though.

"Not only was I learning all sorts of new stuff, but I gained experience in industry classes in my first quarter! I can't think of any other university that offers that type of fast-track experience."

Since LaSheena got her start in the fashion industry almost from the day she set foot on the AIU Buckhead campus, it's not a surprise that by the time her senior year rolled around she was interning in the Atlanta offices of Women's Wear Daily. While LaSheena certainly did her fair share of intern duties-running errands, making photocopies-she also got to do some styling for photo shoots, helped the bureau chief research a major article, worked with fashion photographers, and designed press kits.

Atlanta has so much going on in terms of styling, personal shopping, and fashion and many of the people doing the hiring for these kinds of things are calling AIU with the job openings they have... - LaSheena McAfee, B.F.A. in Fashion Marketing

All of this could have been intimidating if LaSheena hadn't already been exposed to so much of the industry through her AIU fashion and marketing classes as part of her Bachelor's degree. "I was so prepared for whatever WWD asked me to do. I had learned how to put together press kits and how to gather research for articles in my Fashion Marketing class. From all of my classes, I had learned industry lingo. So many of my professors were industry insiders, they were able to teach us the industry-specific terms I never would have known otherwise."

While the WWD internship was certainly one of the best experiences LaSheena had as a student at AIU, it wasn't the only job the school led her to. "Atlanta has so much going on in terms of styling, personal shopping, and fashion and many of the people doing the hiring for these kinds of things are calling AIU with the job openings they have. At the beginning or end of a class, often a professor would announce that so-and-so just called and needed some help with their fashion show. I got so many leads through the school."

Learn more about the Fashion Marketing degree!