The begining
Like many young people I started college feeling lost, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. So, I set out to take many different classes. I took Biology thinking I might want to be a physical therapist. I played clarinet and saxophone in the symphonic band thinking I might want to be a musician. And I took art, knowing that I loved it, and had talent, but had no interest in being a starving artist. In that art class, I met a classmate who lived across the hall from me in the freshman dorm. She invited me over to see her portfolio. It was filled with graphic design work that she created over the summer in a commercial art school. I had never heard of this before. So, the next semester I let go of music and science and took design courses instead. I fell in love with design. I could be the creative problem solver I enjoyed being, but also have a career doing this.
A life of learning
Since then, I never looked back. For the past 20+ years I set out on a life of continual learning. My first professional role was to design and test instructional graphics for Xerox’s line of small office machines. This was my first introduction to Human Factors and usability testing. Shortly after this I began exploring web design where I learned about how to make websites more user friendly with my graphic design skills. I taught myself how to code in HTML and CSS in order to bring my custom designs to life. This is where I felt most at home- melding technical knowledge with my creative side. I worked as a web designer for about 15 years before I discovered UX. This would become the next stage of my career.
Finding UX
Knowing this would be the future, I set out to achieve a master’s degree in UX, and found an online program at AAU that would be flexible enough where I could still work and raise my family. It was quite honestly the most stressful time of my life. I really did not expect that it would be so hard to balance everything on my plate. But, I was more ambitious and determined than ever. So, I would work 8 to 5, care for my kids all evening, then spend half the night on my computer attending grad school. I continued to do this for 5 years until I finished the 23 courses it took to earn my MFA. Since then, I’ve been building an app here and there, but mainly teaching my new found skills to the next generation of designers at Bloc/Thinkful.
Making it
Today I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor, being a digital nomad, and shuttling my teenagers to and from high school, (who have become amazing students themselves having watched me work so hard in grad school.) Deciding to become a UX designer has been the best decision I could have made for myself and my family. I truly enjoy the work I do.