Rhondyna Reth

Around every corner in the streets and museums of Paris, graphic design major Rhondyna Reth found new ways to enrich her visual vocabulary.

“One of the things I was delighted to do was view all the different mediums of art in Paris,” Reth wrote in a blog while on the spring break study abroad trip to the City of Light during her junior year.

The trip fulfilled requirements for both her art history minor and the Honors College, while giving Reth a new lens on her graphic design major. 

“In the U.S., we’re quite typography-heavy,” she observed. “In Paris, where fashion brands are dominant, the design felt more minimal — letting the product or brand speak louder.”

Reth packed her suitcase again just a few months later for another faculty-led study abroad trip, this one an advanced photography workshop in the Azores. 

Both international programs, she says, were possible because of scholarships and financial aid.

Born and raised in Lowell, Reth earned an associate degree from Middlesex Community College, which she attended for free thanks to state programs. When she transferred to UMass Lowell, she received the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship, which provided her with $10,000 for the two years it takes to complete her bachelor’s degree.

“It definitely relieves a lot of the financial burden,” says Reth, who commutes from home and has several other scholarships. “I only have $3,000 in student loans, and I could afford to go on two study abroad trips.”

Originally drawn to watercolor and painting, Reth found her path to graphic design in high school and was encouraged by professors at Middlesex to apply to UMass Lowell’s program. 

Reth’s goal is to work in marketing, and she has found ways to contribute her skills locally. She had a graphic design marketing internship at the Brush Art Gallery and Studio in Lowell, and she serves on the marketing and design team for two community-based initiatives: preserving the historic Smith Baker Center and developing a future museum in Cambodia Town near Clemente Park. 

“Working in the city is important,” says Reth, whose parents emigrated from Cambodia to Lowell, home of the second largest Cambodian population in the United States after Long Beach, California. “A lot of people my age only know bits and pieces of the language and culture, but I was lucky enough to learn the (Khmer) language from my parents.” 

Recognizing that older generations are often reluctant to share their histories, Reth is passionate about preserving and sharing Cambodian heritage in a way that is accessible to younger generations.

“My parents and grandparents don’t talk much about the past,” she says. “Through graphic design, I want to share our stories in a way that others my age can connect with and understand.”