Sunni Sarkisian’s UI/UX internship was its own special experience

By Liz DeFluri

It's a long way from Arlington to Armenia, but junior Sunni Sarkisian navigated a few bumps in the road - with support from Virginia Commonwealth University - to embrace a summer internship that matched their artistic sensibility.

Sarkisian, a Northern Virginia native who is double-majoring in communication arts and graphic design at VCU's School of the Arts, has family roots in Armenia, a West Asian nation that used to be part of the Soviet Union. Their internship, as a user interface/user experience designer, was in its second-largest city, Gyumri.

When potential financial support from family fell through, Sarkisian learned about VCU's Internship Funding Program, which defrays costs that students incur to pursue unpaid internships.

"I'm really glad I was able to have this opportunity," they said. "I'm also very thankful to VCU for giving me their generous funding to be able to come [to Armenia]."

In digital design, UI refers to the interactivity, look and feel of a website or product, while UX refers to a user's overall experience with it. Sarkisian's UI/UX internship was with a company that was designing an educational website that teaches coding.

"My job was to create the interfaces and UI for their mobile website, specifically iPhone and iPad," they said. "They wanted to make sure the site is easy to read in all formats."

Sarkisian used the digital illustration app Procreate to sketch the initial interface and uploaded the sketches to the cloud-based design tool Figma to develop the final design.

Their internship also allowed time to explore Gyumri, where VCU's financial support helped Sarkisian secure a better foothold for their summer.

"While we did have family who were willing to host, they didn't have the best Wi-Fi connection," Sarkisian said. "With this VCU funding, I was able to find a nice apartment that was near my job and had a good enough connection for me to work from home."

Like their trip to Armenia, Sarkisian's journey to VCU had a few twists and turns. They always liked drawing and, by high school, wanted to incorporate it into a career. They originally studied game design and production at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

"I completed a graphic design internship and realized I enjoyed doing that a lot more than [technical] game production," Sarkisian said. That inspired them to transfer to VCUarts this past spring and officially change majors.

So while Sarkisian's ties to VCU are new, they are strong, thanks in part to the financial support for their summer in Armenia.

"This internship taught me what working in a regular 9-to-5 job environment is like," they said. "They strengthened my business communication skills and helped me build interpersonal relationships."

VCU's Internship Funding Program is funded by a combination of VCU funds from the Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success and the School of Business, donor funds from the Student Life and Learning Fund, and grant funds from the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia.