What began as an uncertain start on a pre-med track turned into a journey of creative discovery for Delaney Guidi ’26, who found her purpose and her people through Elon’s School of Communications, with the help of her scholarship.
Delaney Guidi ’26 discovered Elon University through her high school art teacher, Maureen Cesari, who had two children graduate from Elon’s theatre and education programs.
“Since we were birds of a feather, I figured Elon would be a good choice for me. I was right,” said Guidi of Cesari.
Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Guidi committed to Elon on a biology pre-med track. However, after her first semester, she realized that the pre-med track didn’t align with her artistic interests, and she needed a change.
Now, Guidi is a communications design major with a minor in professional writing studies.
“I’ve always been walking the line between arts and sciences, and I’m very ‘artsy fartsy,’ as my father would lovingly describe it. I just wasn’t sure that I could make my art a marketable skill,” Guidi said.
With her interest in mixed media arts, classical training in oil painting and freelance graphic design gigs, she was led to study at the School of Communications.
“With the communications program, I thought this is something where I can do art, but I can also get a job in marketing,” she said.
Guidi describes her first year as starting out “rocky”, where she struggled to find her purpose. Through her on-campus job at the Center for Design Thinking, she met Aaron Chan ’26, an accomplished cinema and television arts major.
One afternoon, Chan was running a meeting with friends and those interested in working on a personal short film project. Guidi, sitting in this meeting, only because it was hosted by her friends, was shocked to be tasked with writing the script for the short film.
“I got so close with all of the people that I worked with on the project,” said Guidi. “I offered my artistry through my work on the poster, social media and writing the script.” It was a project that led her to “discover a passion for creative storytelling and creative collaboration.”
The film titled “Sour Note” was produced by Seismic Studios, an independent production company created by a group of cinema and television arts students on campus. The film ended up being submitted at 11:59 p.m., right before the CinElon submission deadline. The film went on to be shown in Berlin at the FilmHaus festival, won three awards, and has been a finalist, or official selection, in five others.
Taking on the film project was not a task she thought would be possible.
“Had I not met that group of people and gotten a sense of belonging that rekindled my love for Elon and everything it stood for, I was thinking of withdrawing from the university,” said Guidi.
Her newfound sense of belonging and artistic motivations gave Guidi the drive to achieve even more during her time at Elon. She is currently building Elon’s AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) student group, a graphic design club with a nationwide network of talented students.
After the club’s executive team graduated, Delaney was selected by staff to continue the club’s legacy.
“This club is something that I was really looking for in my freshman and sophomore years,” Guidi said. “I really wanted a club and a community, and I was struggling to find it. So then, when I fell into that position, I said, now I can make this happen for other students. That’s what drives me.”
Now a leader of the organization, she wants to foster mentorship that she felt she wasn’t involved in previously.
“It’s helping me with graphic design as I’m helping other people develop themselves, all while fostering a community,” she said.
Off campus, she worked for LabCorp for two summers, starting with blog marketing and moving to a more graphic design-focused role in her second summer. Her supervisor was even an Elon alum.
“I now have a better sense of self than when I started,” said Guidi of her growth at Elon. “I was so unsure of my every move, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I wasn’t sure where my passions were.”
As she worked to put herself out there and take advantage of Elon’s many opportunities, Guidi started to foster stronger relationships with professors, enter and place in graphic design competitions, and even win awards for her e-portfolio site.
“It all helped me determine who I am, what I value, and what I want to do. Now I’m more confident,” said Guidi.
She reflects on her Bevier Family Internship Restricted Annual Fund scholarship: “None of this would have happened if not for the scholarships that I’ve received.”
Guidi brings the story full circle, noting her “freshman blues” before she found her purpose on Elon’s campus.
“Because of that extra aid and extra generosity that I received, I got space to grow. I got the privilege of struggling with my identity in my first year so that I could later become more confident and figure out who I was,” she said.
Guidi encourages donors to look at the work the student they are sponsoring is producing.
“Go look at that short film that has won awards. Look at that. That is an accomplishment that, in a way, you can take a little bit of credit for, because you made it possible, you gave them the tools, you allowed them to do those things.”