Tingting Shan has truly been around the world, but her trip has taken a bit longer than 80 days. She began her cosmopolitan life in southeast China (Wen Zhou), and at 10-years-old her family did a complete 180 and moved to Prague . Quite a lifestyle change. However, the Czech Republic suited her well, and she lived there ever since she began enjoying the third phase in her pan-geographic life in the States, specifically in Savannah , Georgia at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Currently Tingting is a fourth-year senior pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interior Design at SCAD. She’s thrilled to say that she’ll be graduating next May.

It’s difficult for Tingting to say precisely what made her want to be a part of the interior design industry, but she knows it started when she was very young: “I remember that I always enjoyed playing with furniture and room settings when I was very little. I also made tiny furniture out of charcoals and surrounded them with walls made of Ma-jong cubes (a very popular Chinese table game).”

Her creative interests continued when she attended a British system high school in Prague . She was forced to choose her favorite subjects, and although she enjoyed geography and history, she didn’t want a career in those areas. Art won out, which led her to design. “At first, I was pretty confused about what I really wanted to do: Graphic Design, Fashion Design or Interior Design. The funny thing is that sometimes a difficult decision has a simple solution. I was reading some books from my favorite writer one day, and I realized she portrays many of the main female characters as Interior Designers. So I read all the books, and I told myself that is what I wanted to be.”

Although art and design can definitely intertwine, Tingting realized that she was more of a “design person” than an “art person”. “ I don’t like to sit down and draw or paint a person or landscape, but I really enjoy drawing or painting a space that I designed in my mind.” She also enjoys making three-dimensional objects from her two-dimensional designs on paper. This passion has led to her interest in SCAD’s Furniture Design program. However, Tingting is quick to point out that her possible future furniture design pursuits definitely won’t mean she would be giving up Interior Design: “I just think more knowledge about furniture can help me in my career as an interior designer.”

Since she is an international student, Tingting has worked on and off only on campus: part-time in the library as a cataloging assistant and also in the Interior Design Office as an assistant. However, she stopped working at the beginning of her junior year because she was concerned her work schedule was starting to disturb her studies.

In exchange, she is taking advantage of SCAD’s student industry groups to supplement her college life. She joined both ASID and IIDA when she was a junior. She admits that even though she is still a member of both organizations, she doesn’t have the time to be heavily involved. However, she does do her best to go to all the meetings and any special events and conferences that are highlighted so that she can stay informed and connected.

Speaking of connected… Tingting is trying to find an internship for spring quarter. “I wanted to do the internship earlier to have a better sense about a career in interior design; however, I had misunderstood the application process of getting an internship and the time requirements, so I could not do it earlier. I want to gain a professional experience in Interior Design firm so that I can have a clearer understanding of the profession and get to know some professional designers and their firms.”

As far as what kind of design captures her fancy, Tingting is specific. “Hospitality is my favorite. At the beginning I wanted to do residential design. However, the more I learned about residential, the more doubt I had. It is very difficult to design a personal space without having conflict of interests and styles. I think residential design is too personal to the owners, and it would need to take to much effort to persuade them to trust your design. Maybe I will change my mind on that since I have not experienced a real case yet. I prefer hospitality because I like fun space – a space where my design can be entertaining and serving its function. I also think hospitality design has the widest range of styles, and I like to experience different cultures and styles.”

Well, Miss International, we could have told you that!

The fun questions…

P&C: What’s your favorite holiday”
TS: Mmm… I will say Christmas, although we don’t really celebrate it. It is hard to say when I am in Savannah , because it doesn’t seem to be a very popular holiday over here, but when I was in Prague , it was the best time of the entire year. During the Christmas time, there are a lot of decorations everywhere: on the windows, threes, houses, etc. People are smiling, happy songs are playing and many other events happening too. I just really like the atmosphere during this time. I think is the best holiday because it is almost the end of the year, and all families get together, shopping for gifts, sharing their happiness, starting a brand new year, and hoping everything is going to be better the next year.

P&C: What’s the best present you ever received”
TS: Mmm… oo… this is hard… there are so many. Maybe this brown teddy bear I got for my first birthday in Prague . I think I was 12. I liked it a lot, because nobody remembered about my birthday that year, except for my friend, and he bought be this teddy bear. I had it with me all the time when I go to sleep, but it has a big hole in the forehead now because I was reading a book on my bed, and I put it next to my lamp. I felt so sorry for it.

P&C: What’s your favorite food”
TS: My favorite is probably the Chinese fish cake soup. It is not ordinary cake, but is hand made irregular shaped fresh fish cake. Sometimes there are some bones in it too… heehee… I don’t think I can buy it anywhere else but in my hometown in China . My aunt makes a good one too. Soups are my favorite.

P&C: What do you hope to accomplish before 2004 is over”
TS: I want to define my career direction by the end of the year because I am graduating soon. I want to research firms where I can intern. I want to make a clear plan for myself for the coming year.

P&C: Any other links that you would like to include for our readers”
TS: Mmm… I don’t have a personal one yet, but if anyone is interested in the SCAD Chinese Student community, they can visit www.csa-scad.net.

You can contact Tingting by emailing her at tishan20@student.scad.edu