MTC photography instructor achieves unusual degree

Since she was just a 12-year-old girl, Marina Proskurina, digital design professor at Manatee Technical College, has been creating a world of her own. 

"It's my world that I show," Proskurina said. "[Digital art] is like a poison — once you begin, you feel like you cannot stop. It's inside your blood."

After decades of education, a handful of merits and over a decade of teaching, Proskurina became the 16th person in the world to ever receive the Florida Degree of Artistic Excellence, which has been around since 1978. Maybe this poison was one well chosen for Proskurina. 

The rare degree has been around for almost 40 years, and only 16 artists have ever been fortunate enough to earn it. She credits her success in the art world to her passion for learning, stressing the importance not just being a photographer, but having the mind to create unique, quality visuals. 

With that being said, her advice to aspiring photographers: study. 

"With photography, you're using technology, and without knowledge technology isn't helpful," Proskurina said. "Technology is your guidance, but you still have to be knowledgeable with photography to create something great. There's a big difference being a photographer and bing creative with your camera — knowledge is power."

Going on her fourth year as a professor at MTC, Proskurina finds teaching to be quite rewarding. She loves seeing her students succeed.

"Seeing the results of their creation, especially at the end of the course when they bring forward their portfolios, you see where they came from in the beginning, and step-by-step how they grow and become more creative with their art," Proskurina said.

The digital design course that Proskurina teaches is about 11 months long, and throughout the course of these months, she takes entry level students and creates talented artists.  

Zoe Carrasco, 19, began the digital design class with Proskurina back in January, and she did so with little confidence in herself. She never imagined her skills would manifest so beautifully in this class. However, after winning second place in the Skills USA Competition for Photography, Carrasco was proven wrong. 

"Although this class is challenging, it's incredibly rewarding," Carrasco said. "Marina looks at her students like their her kids. To her, I don't think she feels like she's teaching, it's more like she's giving us guidance."

After Proskurina earned her degree, she was quick to tell her students at MTC about her experience and, additionally, the copious amount of work she put in to receive the degree — the professor proves to be quite a fantastic role model for her students.

"To see her (Proskurina) win awards, and to see how excited she was while she was telling us about it, it's really cool to have her coach me," Carrasco said. "She pushed me, not only by teaching me but by doing her outside work, which not only validates her experience, but also her passion for art." 

It seems that Proskurina's students see learning from her as somewhat of a privilege, while additionally feeling much gratitude toward her for enhancing their creativity and expanding their knowledge in such an endearing manner over the course of the class. 

"She is always professional, and she does an amazing job at preparing us for real world experiences and opportunities, which is so valuable in terms of the careers we’re all chasing under her wing," said Lucas Vasconcellos, one of Proskurina's current digital design students. "She's always excited to share stories of [her students] accomplishments after their training. She is always challenging my class to do our best, and we feel very blessed when we learn from her."