Voices of Making Waves: Meet Avery Tomlin
“Fashion is exploration. In all senses of the word,” shared Avery Tomlin Ricondo when he was a fourth year senior at UC Davis, where he designed and launched a four-piece collection at the university’s yearly fashion show.
Now a first-gen college graduate with a design degree from UC Davis, Avery shared that he didn’t originally start college as a design major.
“I was taking calculus and the computer programming class during my first quarter,” Avery shared. “It was during the pandemic so I was at home, on Zoom. I just very quickly realized it wasn’t for me.”
“When applying to college, many of us apply with the mindset of choosing a major that will allow us to be the most successful, monetarily, post-college,” Avery shared. “However, sometimes this mindset isn’t based on what we really want to do.”
“Through my college experience I realized that happiness and enjoyment in what you do is the most important and money will follow,” Avery shared about his decision to switch from computer science to design for his college major.
Originally from San Jose, Avery found out about Making Waves’ college and career success program during his senior year of high school. “My parents make money but not enough to send me to college at all,” he shared.
“I found Making Waves, a Bay Area foundation. I was like “ohh my goodness, that’s perfect.'”
Once he joined Making Waves, Avery received a college scholarship and was paired with a college coach, financial coordinator, and career specialist. Avery also gained experience at Making Waves as a Marketing and Storytelling Intern.
“I did not know what a college coach was at first,” shared Avery, who said he gained support from his Making Waves coach around academic and personal issues through weekly or monthly check ins.
“It was great having somebody there on my side and on my team, no matter what.”
