Hailee Parman stood on a 10-foot ladder with a paintbrush in hand, carefully tracing the letters spelling out “Boise State”. Her canvas was the curved wall leading to the Admissions desk for visitors to be welcomed by. After 300 hours of painting, she completed a 18×10 ft mural that gave a snapshot of Boise, from the blue turf football field to bikers on the greenbelt.
The young artist applied for the project after being nominated by Jillian Krulac from Career Services. When Hailee’s design was selected, she got to work mapping out her mural on Indesign and drawing a huge grid on the wall she would soon spend her free time painting.
Stepping back from her biggest project yet, she was overwhelmed with a feeling of accomplishment. She felt satisfied leaving her mark on Boise State her senior year — just like she got to leave her mark on her hometown during her senior year of high school.
“I like sharing with my community and using my skills to help beautify the school,” she said. “I got the opportunity to make the school something that’s inviting to people visiting.”
Muralist in the making
In 2020, Hailee painted a (dimension) mural on a wall in downtown Camas, Washington to show her love for her hometown. The words “Camas Love” were surrounded by detailed, hand-painted flowers. A clothing line with her design was launched on the day of the ribbon-cutting ceremony – which also happened to be on her birthday. It was a day of celebration to remember.
“I remember being really nervous for the ribbon cutting ceremony because five minutes before there was like no one there. But then community members came,” she said. “I’d never got to do anything that big in my career yet, so it was just a really encouraging thing coming to Boise State and doing graphic design.”
The artist’s love for creativity started at a young age. Her art instructor, Elida Field, taught Hailee everything she knew about fine arts, from elementary through high school. Hailee has always been passionate about creativity, art and design, but didn’t know how she could make it into a career.
Choosing a path
Hailee was drawn to Boise State because the environment reminded her of her hometown in Washington. Like most undergraduates, she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do, but she knew whatever it was it would be something that allowed her to be creative and design.
“I think the graphic design choice was perfect for me and I learned a lot and I think it’s the closest path that I want to take,” she said. “I think there’s so many options, it’s hard to choose exactly what you want to do, and I think that’s ok. Even after [graduating], you can apply whatever skills you’ve learned to a completely different job and learn as you go with that job.”
Hailee understands the indecision that comes with picking a major and the doubts about wanting to fully pursue it that can creep in.
“I can’t imagine myself working in an office all day working on graphic design,” she said. Despite dreading a desk job, Hailee feels confident in the skills she’s developed to do any career and trusts that she has set herself up to be successful in the future because of her dedication to her passions.
Saying “yes” to trying new things and seizing opportunities that may have seemed daunting at first got Hailee to where she is today.
“Always say ‘yes’ to doing stuff because I feel like the more you say ‘yes’, the more you’re going to get experiences out of things,” she said. “Even if you don’t want to initially, it can turn into something great or become one of your favorite things you’ve done.”
Four years of reflection
As commencement quickly approaches, Hailee considers what she’s learned throughout her college career.
Hailee’s freshman year was marked by making friends and stepping out of her comfort zone. If she could go back in time, she would tell her first-year self “just take each day as it comes” and snatch opportunities to initiate friendships instead of waiting for them to come to her.
In her sophomore year, she learned about different career paths by leveling up out of her foundation courses. Hailee realized that she could use her love for fine art and her graphic design skills to create beautiful things so she she applied to the graphic design program.
Junior year, the budding graphic designer was welcomed into a new community of people with similar interests. With roughly 15 other students in the graphic design program graduating in the spring of 2024, Hailee is grateful for the close-knit community who encouraged and taught her along the way.
As her senior year wraps up, the (almost) graduate is excited to embark on something new and is looking forward to whatever her future holds. “I’m not a super reserved person anymore. I think I stepped out of my shell and I’m more confident in myself.”
It’s bittersweet for Hailee to look at her Boise State mural depicting all the things that she loves about the University. Even though she plans to stick around Boise, she’s unsure of where her career will take her, but she’ll always have her experiences as a Bronco to encourage her through her next phase of life. Who knows where the next place she’ll beautify will be?
