Vitalija Svencionyte, 33, is a native of Lithuana who earned a bachelor of arts degree at Nicholls and was among those who graduated Saturday.

“All my life I wanted to be an artist, a painter, a designer,” she said. “I wanted to be in art.”

Svencionyte learned two months ago that she wouldn’t be able to accept a job offer with the Baton Rouge-based Xdesign because Immigration laws that allow foreign students to accept employment immediately following graduation only applies to those who receive a degree more advanced than the one he or she already holds.

Svencionyte already held bachelor and master degrees in another field.

She says she now must leave the country when her student visa expires Feb. 14.

Jeremy Zollinger, a New Orleans based immigration attorney, said there’s a waiting list for H1B visas, which allows employers to hire foreign nationals in specialty positions. The earliest X-Design could hope to secure a work visa for Svencionyte is October.

Svencionyte said she does not have the money to support herself or the legal status to remain in the U.S. that long. She has started looking for jobs overseas.

Calls to U.S. Immigration were not returned.

Growing up, Svencionyte’s parents encouraged her artistic inclinations, but going to art school was out of the question.

“That’s why I ended up in communication library science,” Svencionyte said.

She majored in communication science at the University of Vilnius, and got her master’s degree in the same field from LSU.

Svencionyte went to work for Southern University following her 2006 graduation, but she still dabbled in art.

When Svencionyte’s closest friend at Southern died suddenly of complications from cancer, her career aspirations took a drastic change.

“She told me there is no life worth living if you’re not living for your dream,” Svencionyte said. “I dropped everything, and I started looking for a university.”

Svencionyte chose Nicholls because she knew art director David Horton. The university accommodated her previous credits, putting together a three-and-a-half year course to graduation.

By the time Svencionyte’s portfolio made it to X-Design in Baton Rouge, the graduate turned undergrad had amassed a portfolio of work unlike many the veteran design firm had seen.

“Student portfolios usually look like student work, they don’t have the eye yet for craft and scale,” said Tiffanie Pietre, lead designer at Xdesign. “The first time we looked at her portfolio, we could tell she was meant to be a designer.”

Svencionyte worked with X-Design as a summer intern and it became clear she had skills unique enough to justify a competitive advantage for the firm.

Pietre and her design staff decided to hold a position for Svencionyte.

“We knew graduation was around the corner, and we wanted to hire her. As soon as we knew we wanted her, she met with an immigration lawyer.”

The meeting did not go as Svencionyte or Pietre had hoped. Without the benefit of the optional practical training program, Svencionyte and Xdesign would have to spend tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to secure a visa. Xdesign ultimately decided that it was a financial undertaking the firm couldn’t afford.

“I thought this country was built on a dream and pioneers and I am now basically punished because I decided to dream and hope,” Svencionyte said.