By: Sophie Centazzo
This week, I interviewed Jenny Pereira, a SCAD Advertising and Branding professor who went here for grad school. I got the DISH on everything that was going on in Savannah back in ‘06. Back then, I was a fresh four years old without a care in the world, other than waiting for my mom to put The Wiggle’s on TV for me, while Prof. Pereira was busting ass and taking names.
Sophie Centazzo: Who are you?
Jenny Pereira: Ugh! Who am I? What a great question! My name is Jenny Pereira and I’m a professor at SCAD. I teach advertising classes and graphic design classes, but I am a part of the advertising department. So, I teach classes anything from production, how to create using our Adobe products, to typography classes and art direction.
SC: So, what year did you graduate from SCAD?
JP: How dare you? First of all, how dare you ask me that question? So, I graduated with my M.A. in graphic design in ‘06 and my advertising M.A. in ‘07.
SC: Did you live on campus or off?
JP: Off campus. I lived in Georgetown.
SC: Oh! So not in Savannah?
JP: No-. Well, I mean technically Savannah, but I chose Georgetown for the price and Veterans Parkway was just up and running. It’s a short distance from downtown. I went to grad school a little later, not too much later, but I was 25, so I needed to be away from the party stuff, or otherwise I wouldn’t get anything done.
SC: Did you have a roommate?
JP: I did!
SC: Did you get along or was there any #beef?
JP: Uhh, you know what, a little bit of both.
SC: Feel free to expose them!
JP: I actually moved down to Savannah from Rhode Island, where I’m from originally, with someone that I graduated undergrad with. Like, she found SCAD and was telling me all about it and I was like “Oh my god, this sounds exactly like the place for me!” So, we actually moved down with her boyfriend and they stuck around Savannah for about a year and then they left. I stuck around and then moved in with a classmate and she was wonderful, but no, I don’t speak to any of my roommates.
SC: What was the food sitch like on campus? Was it as shitty as it was today or was it a little bit better back then?
JP: Unknown. I didn’t eat a lot on campus. I know we had cafeterias, I know we had dorms back then, but 15 years ago, honestly the closest to on campus dining I did was that I ate at Griffin a couple of times. The tea room across from Poetter Hall. It’s a fancy tea house. No, I didn’t eat on campus. Side bar, off the record, but obviously it’s on because you’re recording this, I do follow the Hive Unleaked on Instagram.
SC: Yeah... you’re lucky you didn’t eat on campus. How were your classes? Was the ad department the same as it is today or was it totally different? JP: It was in its infancy. So, when I started to take ad classes, that was the beginning of the program. I’m pretty sure I came into it during its first or second quarter. But, yeah, the classes were a lot smaller. Like the classes I teach, it’s rare that I have less than 19 students per class, but back then, it hit that sweet spot between 8 and 10, so there was a lot more interaction. I had Professor Basil, so it was very interesting to see that leap between student-professor relationship to colleagues.
SC: That's great! So, my next question is a little obscure, have you heard of Grace Vanderwaal, the girl from America’s Got Talent? Who got the golden buzzer? She has the little bob? She had her 15 minutes. Anyway, she lives in Savannah now, so we have her as our famous “peer”. Did you have any famous classmates or any on campus “celebrities”?
JP: …No.
SC: No celebs?
JP: No. I was a sheltered child, so I didn’t notice. No celebrities that I recall back then, but yeah, I see a lot more celebrities now. I see them touring, like a private tour around Adler, so I find that interesting, but no, no celebrities.
SC: Yeah, cause we have TikTok now and everything, so everyone’s a fucking celebrity on that app.
JP: Exactly! Twitter wasn’t even around when I was in school.
SC: The dark ages back then in ‘06.
JP: How dare you? I was waiting for that one. Yes, we didn’t have smartphones then.
SC: So, we have clubs and bars like Barrel House and Rogue downtown. What were the most popular bars back then in the going out scene?
JP: Oooh. So, again, I was in grad school, so we had our own little cohort, which was much smaller than like the undergrad classes, but Molly McPherson’s downtown. It’s right in City Market, but it's down like a street. Scottish bar, kilts, and bangers and mash, like the whole nine. It was great. We spent a lot of time at Wild Wing Cafe in City Market. Honestly, it’s not a bar, but we knew better. We stuffed our faces before we imbibed. And there's that sketchy one, where you have to go downstairs, where there’s live music. Right across from Sorry Charlie’s, like there’s a couple of sketchy bars/clubs over there.
SC: I used to live right above Coffee Fox so I’m trying to think of what- I know the downstairs one. I totally blanking on the name, but I know what you’re talking about.
JP: You know what I’m talking about. And it’s still sketchy! STILL THERE! And then, of course, you know, when we drank too much, we went to the pizza place around the corner, which has changed names a dozen times.
SC: Yeah, Kay’s.
JP: Yeah, the pizza is way too greasy, but you eat it anyways.
SC: Yeah, like all the “popular, cool” kids, like fashion students go out downtown, but we special, little cool SCAD students, we go to Moodright’s.
JP: Yeah! During grad school, I worked at that SunTrust, right there. That’s how I got through grad school. Behind Moodright’s is Lone Wolf. LOVED that place.
SC: What was the party scene like back then? House parties? Beach parties?
JP: All of the above. My little cohort, we did Sidewalk Arts, we did Sand Arts, we were a little nerdy. It was ridiculous house parties, but when I say house parties, it was our little cohort and maybe a couple other people, so maybe 12 people.
SC: I love how you keep calling yourselves a cohort. That’s kinda similar to what it’s like now. My next question is did you go out a lot?
JP: Pretty much every Friday we were at somebody's house. Every Saturday, we were at somebody else’s house. We’d go to the beach on the weekends. We’d go out and meet up every Friday night to hang. Partied a lot. Bowling was a good one. Playing pool. St. Patrick’s Day was always a highlight. That was pretty much it.
SC: Other than going out, what other stuff did you do for fun around Savannah, like Forsyth or River St.?
JP: SCAD took a lot of my time. There were always two all nighters, every single week. During every single quarter.
SC: Oh shit! Well, you were a grad student, so that kinda makes sense.
JP: Yeah, it was non-stop, non-stop, non-stop. I’m not an outside person, but back then we did a lot of movies. Midnight showings and stuff like that. We rarely hung out in Forsyth. To be honest, people houses or bars. We didn’t really do anything. UGH, I’m one of those people, I’m gonna say it! There’s nothing to do here. I hate it when people say that, though.
SC: No, I’m totally with you, like there really isn’t anything to do here.
JP: There really isn’t. But, I will say though there’s a lot more now to do, but that’s also because of social media, I’m aware of it. But, back then, I’m not getting the paper. I’m not paying for the paper to be delivered to my house just to know what’s going on that weekend.
SC: So, back to SCAD topics, did you guys have the same clubs that we have right now? Just to name a couple like District Magazine or Improv, etc.?
JP: Very few. We didn’t have anywhere near as close to as many as we have today. Hundreds. And again, it’s so much easier because of social media, because back then, we were only informed by email and stuff, so nobody wanted to open their email.
SC: Were you in any?
JP: I was not in any clubs. I worked 20-30 hours a week and I took three classes a quarter. No breaks. But two masters degrees in two years, so.
SC: That’s fucking crazy. So, like you said before, you follow the SCAD pages. We have shitty parking accounts, we have SCAD YikYak, SCAD Affirmations, and OF COURSE BOOBEES! Did you have any campus inside jokes?
JP: No, again because it wouldn’t ignite like wildfire like it does here. Like, it was all word of mouth. I feel like you guys are so much more in tune with what you deserve, whereas back then, it was mostly just gossip. I feel like I’m disappointing you!
SC: No, I’ve taken a bunch of your classes and you’re awesome. I wanted to ask you what SCAD was like because of how different it is now. Especially with social media, it obviously affects how we go to school here.
JP: Absolutely. I mean back then, the dinosaurs roamed the earth. We didn’t even have computers in every classroom.
SC: Oh shit! Even in ‘06??
JP: Yeah, we had to bring our own laptops to make it work. There were classrooms with computers, but very few. And those were reserved for web design classes.
SC: After graduation, what was life for you like?
JP: Go, go go. After grad, I got an internship with Disney, which was amazing and phenomenal, but even as an intern, an internship is basically a job. They’re just-
SC: Underpaying you?
JP: Ugh. They’re still expecting a level of work from you, even though you’re an intern, so after graduation, everything happened really fast. I moved out of my apartment the same day as graduation. So, after the ceremony, I ran back to my apartment, packed up the truck, and moved down to Florida. It happened really fast. It wouldn’t have been my choice, but because of the quarter system, we ended so late into June and at the end of June was my start date. So, yes, everything happened super, super fast. But, the application process, yes, we had the internet back then. So, the application process, I feel like, was a little easier back then because the talent pool was so much smaller. But, I still applied for 100 jobs and internships before graduation. It was a lot. Back then, I was told to be much more specific about what I applied for, however, I’m a numbers person. Now, I know people are gonna tell you a bunch of different things, but I applied for everything I was qualified for and could potentially say “Oh, yeah I could do that for a couple years.” And I was fortunate enough to get the internship at Disney.
SC: My next question is, and this has more of a personal connection, but do you feel SCAD equipped you for the real world because I’m scared as fuck.
JP: Oh, absolutely. One of the reasons I went to grad school was because my undergrad, I’m not gonna say out loud where I went, but obviously it’s in my LinkedIn, but back then, we didn’t have any computers at my school, at all. They did not prepare me at all, not even a tiny bit. They taught me how to use the programs and what typography meant, but did not prepare me at all because I was also scared AF.
SC: You can say fuck on here. Don’t worry, we’re not censored.
JP: Haha! So, no, I felt completely prepared. My portfolio was filled with things that were relevant. I got offers, I actually got an offer for an agency in New York. I can’t remember the name of it, but at the time they had Vitamin Water. I took a study abroad, the one week program. Bazil used to take us to New York for one week and we would run through the agencies. We’d have the head of the agencies talk to us about everything. I had a bunch of leave behinds, which by the way business cards AREN’T dying. Leave behinds ARE NOT dying. Print is not dead. But, I had a bunch of leave behinds, like books with my stuff, and I got a couple of offers just on my portfolio. That would not have happened without SCAD. Legit, I think I’m absolutely prepared, and because I worked my ass off too. It’s a symbiotic relationship, right? But, then I turned them down, stupidly, to work at Disney, but it was my dream. I loved every moment of it, but then I’m thinking like “Oh my god, you could have worked at an agency in New York City. You’re an idiot.” So, you’re scared. Are you scared in general?
SC: I think the scary thing is- Wow, you flipped the interview. Jeez, Jenny. So, I think the thing is like I’m not ready to grow up yet. Like, I know I’m 21 years old and I do think of myself as a mature person, but I am a child. I’m not ready to live on my own and make my own money and all that shit on my own. Like, I don’t know how to do taxes. What the fuck.
JP: The phrase grown-up is bullshit. I’m gonna say that right now. Do you know what I spend a lot of my money on? Bullshit I buy at Disney and ComicCon when I go to San Diego every year. The idea that I’m 41 years old, I don’t feel like a grown up either. I forgot to do my taxes and I did them yesterday, but you know what? TurboTax is great. Let somebody else figure it out. But, I completely understand where you are. Just don’t put too much on your shoulders. You don’t have to have it figured out.
SC: So, my last question is what made you wanna come back to SCAD and teach?
JP: As I grew in my career, I started as a graphic designer, art director, and creative manager. So when I hit that creative manager level, I realized that so much of the joy that I had wasn’t working with the shareholders, wasn’t working with the presidents or CEOs, which I did enjoy doing those things because I love order and communication. But, the greatest joy I had was working with my interns and juniors and just seeing the work through their eyes and seeing them progress through the ranks. I had one intern, who was such a huge talent, and after her internship, we got to hire her and she got promoted two or three times after I left the company. It’s just like, ah! It overjoys me just to see the joy you get from your own success. Like, I realize that it’s so corny, stop judging me, but legit, I just wanted to help other people reach their dreams. I just find immense joy in that and yeah, the vacation time doesn’t hurt either. A lot of my products were on the shelves in the stores and I could go to the store and be like “Oh yeah, I did that.” Super awesome feeling, but no better feeling than getting a text message from somebody being like “OMG I GOT A JOB!” and I’m like “OMG! IT’S YOUR DREAM COME TRUE!”
SC: Yeah that’s great! Hopefully, one day, when I’m outta here, I’ll shoot you a text and say “I’m out! I did it!”
JP: And then I’ll be like “Do you wanna come back to SCAD and talk to us??”
Comments