Cody Pumper
Follow messageGuam High School Class of 2011
New York, NY
I don't ever completely make sense.
I was born in Arizona, grew up in England, went to middle school in Arkansas, and graduated on Guam. I have various and numerous aspirations which, should I pursue all at once, would kill me. But I shall try anyway. Right now I'm going to Parsons in New York City for Communication Design. I swear my school is absolutely perfect for me, but I'm not going to be able to finish my degree if I don't get some more scholarships, which is why I'm here.
I want to be the best graphic designer ever! I've also begun to branch out into other art and design fields, such as web design/development and documentary making. Not that I've had much time to put into these side projects between work and school, but who needs sleep anyway?
I was born in Arizona, grew up in England, went to middle school in Arkansas, and graduated on Guam. I have various and numerous aspirations which, should I pursue all at once, would kill me. But I shall try anyway. Right now I'm going to Parsons in New York City for Communication Design. I swear my school is absolutely perfect for me, but I'm not going to be able to finish my degree if I don't get some more scholarships, which is why I'm here.
I want to be the best graphic designer ever! I've also begun to branch out into other art and design fields, such as web design/development and documentary making. Not that I've had much time to put into these side projects between work and school, but who needs sleep anyway?
Extracurricular
- Assistant Teacher
- Archery Club 2007 to 2009
- I went to an Archery Club on Saturdays, twice a month. Half the time I was honing my skills and the other half I was helping introduce kids to the sport.
- Editor, Design Editor
- Yearbook Team 2009 to 2011
- I designed the covers and layouts for the 2009-2010 book and the 2010-2011 book. My last year as Editor, I faced a staff shortage, money problems, and a new advisor. But I, and fellow members, worked things out, and I believe we produced our best yearbook yet. I've posted the 2011 cover in my media, if you would like to take a look!
- Vice President
- Catholic Youth Group 2008 to 2010
- Held on Wednesdays, twice a month, the Catholic Youth Group for the St. Michael's Parish provided games and activities for the youth of the parish. As Vice President for a year, I helped organize parish picnics and fairs. It was a great to get involved with my immediate community.
- Volunteer
- Special Olympics 2009 to 2010
- I helped out, through NHS, at the annual Special Olympics on Guam. We provided an audience for the competitors and we organized events, such as the long jump and standing jump. Seeing the excitement on the kids' faces was priceless!
- Teacher
- Archery Camp 2008 to 2008
- I helped teach and supervise children at a week long archery camp. Most of the kids were completely new to the sport, and it was exciting to show them how to shoot and how to improve. It is not a sport that can be treated casually since it is quite dangerous, and by the end of the week the kids had realized that and had learned to respect me as a teacher as well as respect archery.
- Vice president (2010-2011), Historian (2009-2010)
- NHS 2008 to 2011
- The Guam High School chapter of NHS provided tutoring during the seminar period as well as after school, and volunteers in the community for various projects. We worked with the island's Read-a-Thon program, we put together activities for children with disabilities, conducted school award programs, and participated in a rummage sale for charity. For the individual service hours beyond those activities, I did additional tutoring, helped at an elderly home, put together candy-grams as a fundraiser, went to a beach clean-up, and more.
- President (2010-2011), Vice President (2008-2010)
- Student Council 2008 to 2011
- As a member of the Student Council, I was often addressing students and communicating with administrators on their behalf. Worked to reestablish school pride, implement a recycling system, organized numerous pep rallies, organized spirit weeks, and more. It was often challenging since our school was a Department of Defense school for military dependents. It meant that students were coming and going, often only going to the school for a year or two. Plus, the military life introduces additional stresses, and security issues. Events required much legwork to navigate the bureaucratic system we were under. Further, we dealt with conflicts between the local students attending the school and the military kids. Racism had to be dealt with carefully. In order to accomplish these things, we had correspondents–mostly me–attend our school's School Improvement Program meetings with the administrators. Of all the activities I participated in during high school, Student Council taught me the most by far.
- Technical Director
- School News Broadcast 2007 to 2011
- All four years of high school I went into school early each morning to run our school's CCTV broadcast. I held the highest position regarding the technical aspect of the broadcast for the last two years, being in charge of making sure every thing always worked. I also served as a news anchor occasionally my junior year, and once a week as a senior. Being a daily broadcast, we were constantly reassessing our news and spots in order to keep it interesting for tired students in the morning–and to keep ourselves motivated.
- Boy's Varsity
- Outrigger Canoeing 2011 to 2011
- Daily practices and weekly races made for an intense season for a boatload of beginners. The majority of the team had left or graduated the year before. While this was reflected in our low finishing position at the championships, we did put in the work and prove to be at competing level. On top of that, our team was close and had some seriously great times. One of my favorites was when we were practicing close to where the water breaks against the reef, and as we turned there were dolphins jumping out of the water a few boat length away. Even if that hadn't happened, there's something amazing about being in a canoe out on the ocean.
- Boy's Doubles
- Tennis 2010 to 2011
- Completely new to tennis, I did relatively well. I made it through one round of the All-Island tournament at least! And in the second round, the match score was 4-6, so we were close!
- President
- Hall Council 2011 to Now
- We organize events to build a sense of community, ranging from Super Bowl Party to feeding the homeless at a soup kitchen.
Experience
- Babysitter
- Self-Employed (Other)
- 2006 to 2009
- I would babysit for families (other than my own) on a monthly basis.
- Graphic Designer
- Big Fish Creative (Marketing)
- 2010 to 2010
- Designed ads, edited designs, created layouts, and whatever else clients needed for their advertising. I worked as a paid intern for the summer of 2010.
- Office Assistant
- Parsons Admissions (Education)
- 2011 to Now
- It's quite the varied job in which I'm helping send out thousands of mailers one day and answering phone calls from prospective students the next.
Education
- College
- Parsons School of Design at The New School, New York, NY
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Bachelor of Arts(Visual Arts and Design)
- 2011 to 2015
Honors & Awards
In 7th grade, I took the ACT through the Duke TiP. I scored a 21 and gained state recognition.
On Guam, the Japanese Language Teacher Association chose my t-shirt design–based on the the cherry blossom theme–for 1st place for their 2010 song contest t-shirt competition.
On Guam, the Japanese Language Teacher Association chose my t-shirt design–based on the the cherry blossom theme–for 1st place for their 2010 song contest t-shirt competition.
Specialties & Skills
I cook quite well, with baking being a particular specialty.
Info
Basic
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Last Update:
January 14, 2012
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Gender:
Male
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Birthday:
February 1
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Religious:
Catholic
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Military:
Air Force
Background
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Ethnicity:
Caucasian or White
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Heritage:
Czech
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Fluent Language:
English
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First Gen Student:
Yes
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Hometown:
New York, New York
Interests
- 3-D Design
- Animation
- Apparel & Textiles
- Architecture
- Film & Video
- Art
- Art Direction
- Computer Science
- Board, Card, Role-Playing Games
- Ceramics
- Crafts
- Design
- Digital Arts
- Drawing
- Fashion Design
- Fine Arts
- Game & Interactive Media Design
- Graphic Design
- Visual Arts & Design
- Illustration
- Industrial & Product Design
- Interior Design
- Multimedia
- Painting
- Photography
- Sculpture
Favorites
- Movies:
Son of Rambow, Where the Wild Things Are, Gran Torino, Up, The Bourne Series, Fight Club, The Social Network, Toy Story (1, 2, and 3).
- TV Shows:
Community, Freaks and Geeks.
- Music:
Bon Iver, Childish Gambino, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Eminem, Suckers, Atmosphere, Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, and Louis Armstrong are definitely favorites.
- Websites:
I love Feedly for reading my favorite blogs, Vimeo has the best video interface, Zinch for scholarships, Facebook for friends, Mint for money tracking, and hundreds of others.
- Quotes:
"To infinity, and beyond!" -Buzz Lightyear
- Books:
Books by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens, Nancy Farmer, Jane Austen, Chuck Palahniuk, Tim Ferriss, and others.
Recommendations
Catholic Youth Group, Vice President
"Cody is on outstanding young man with unlimited potential. He was active in the creation of our Parish Youth group and as such, held council positions. Outstanding leadership skills coupled with an eagerness to see things through to a successful conclusion made our program the success it is today. Anyone who has the pleasure of working with Cody is sure to see his tenacious desire for perfection. He is honest and has a strong work ethic. Cody is sure to succeed in any endeavor set before him."
March 6, 2012

















