Short-lived Imposter Syndrome
Little did I know the senior year is “harder” and busier than any other year. It’s “harder” because at the beginning of the year, I learned what “imposter syndrome” was, and I said to myself, “I definitely have imposter syndrome.” I wish I never learned that term because it definitely got into my head and I could get easily discouraged — and that is not me! The things (projects and progress) I did in the first month just felt more challenging because I barely had any motivation since imposter syndrome was consistently sitting in the back of my head. I also would like to blame the prolonged pandemic. We’ve been stuck at home and unable to make connections (let’s not even talk about making new connections) and have these meaningful conversations. When we were in school, my peers and instructors would always help me out just by chatting with me, having that face-to-face empathetic exchange. Now it feel like we are more on our own than ever.
Spring is Really Coming
Taking Professional Practices in spring feels like a real spring — new connections, new opportunities, new first-times, and renewed motivations. I started to forget about imposter syndrome that was shortly introduced into my life. I was able to make myself busy and, most importantly, to make new connections through these OKRs.
Joining a Slack Community
I joined a Slack Community, Out in Tech, where I found a lot of insightful information, attended a couple of interesting events, and met new people who have different skills. I also found a mentor on there, who has been helping me with my resume and career building.
When I attended one of their Zoom events, I’ve never seen 800 people in a Zoom call, and that is where I made a lot of LinkedIn connections and acknowledged that a lot of us are on the same boat.
Mentor a Designer
To reciprocate the dynamic of giving back to the community, Corey, Aining, and I created a mural board to encourage sophomores to sign up for mentorship. This process helped our mentees in many valuable ways, but it also helped me understand myself better — what my strength and weakness are in design. I was able to connect with my mentee, sharing some similar struggles while also celebrating successes. We talked about our future plans during our meetings and shared some advice on preparing for making a portfolio site. All of the tips I learned are from my own experience and learned from my instructors and my mentor. It felt good to share these with my mentee because I wish I could have a mentor sooner.
I appreciate that mentorship is not a temporary assignment; rather, it could be a life-long connection. My mentee would always reach out to me even he is not in school anymore and vice versa.
Presentation for Group of High Schoolers
I reached out to my high school guidance and set up a date for a presentation at the end of May (right now, they are on a break). I already started to make the presentation. This would be a perfect chance to wrap up what I have learned throughout my design journey and translate it into their language and help them see my perspective. I hope I will intrigue some creative minds because while I was in high school, I never even heard of the tech field, was never introduced to it. I wish I could get to know interaction design much earlier.
Grow My Professional Network On Twitter
Twitter is one of my favorite OKRs and hardest OKRs to achieve. Before taking Professional Practice, I always saw practitioners would leave their twitter @ at the end of a presentation and I didn’t know Twitter is that ubiquitous in the tech/design community. First, I created a Twitter account and I discovered many fascinating bloggers and even the designers I wrote biography about. Speaking of the designers I wrote about, Giorgia Lupi liked my first Twitter post! That was such a good and motivative start ever. From there, I was able to consistently post design related content every week. However, I found it hard to have other designers to follow me back. I understand that this is my first account, but it’s hard to get likes back in these very four month. I decided to post my twitter on my Slack community as well as on my Instagram to gain more exposures. I also acknowledge that, to obtain more followers I need to keep the consistency of posting stuff and put my Twitter @ at every presentation in the future.
Share a Case Study With Desired Audience
One of the designers I reached out to who works at Facebook was willing to give me a phone call and provide feedback for my case study and overall portfolio making progress. I was so lucky to connect with this helpful person. When he said, “let me know if you have any questions in the future,” I was thrilled! I feel like I should have done this networking part a long time ago, but I’m glad I started it with these OKRs from Professional Practices.
One of my OKRs is “get it out to the world — publishing and showcasing a case study to online public.” Since I finished my new case study about a week ago, I’ve been posting my case study everywhere I can find — Twitter, LinkedIn, WeChat, Reddit, Slack, and Discord. I am proud of my result, so I wanted to show the world my newest work. It makes me even happier when a stranger in the comment section said “I am interested in your new invention.” My goal is to empathesize with my users, and I feel my product got validated when I hear users say they are interested or relate to it.
Applying to a Speak at a UX Conference
I’ve never spoken or presented at any conference before, which would be a brand experience for me. I signed up for this because I am constantly trying to push myself to do these things that might make me feel uncomfortable (in a good way). I have a 10 minutes presentation on May 14th. I am planning to prepare for this presentation after all my finals are done. I will keep in mind that I will put my LinkedIn and Twitter @ at the end of my slide. Ha! more connections to come.
Purpose Venn Diagram
Purpose Venn diagram helped me to have more confidence in myself and what I believe in. To create this map, we had to be honest and vulnerable to ourselves — what we value and what holds us makes us stand out. I was able to get possible feedback from other people on LinkedIn. I also learned from my peer’s diagrams that everybody shares this very empathetic goal — to help others. I am delighted to see this pattern among the new designers.
Publish a Post About Favorite Design Method
I enjoyed writing this article because I had to look back at all of the methods and techniques I used through my journey. I think these methods I mentioned in my article really defined who I am as a designer — story-driven! I also got positive comments.
Interviewing a Practitioner
I connected with a freelance UX designer, SRemy, who is currently working for a startup company. I wanted to interview them because I might have to be a freelancer in the future, working on some small projects. I wanted to understand their journey as a UX freelancer. I had a fantastic conversation with them and see their world from different persepctive. In many ways, I was quite surprised I understood all of the terms they used during the interview — It sounded familiar with what we have been doing in school. It made me feel like all this work has paid off! Once again, I found my confidence back from connecting with different people and knowing that I’m on the right track.
Conclusion
Going out to the world is excited but mostly scary, but my journey has already started in professional practices. I was able to make many new connections, a lot of first-time experiences, and most importantly, I step outside the box — reaching out to people on different platforms; applied two presentations for two completely different audiences; I pushed myself on my thesis case study publishing and gathering insights from strangers and designers. I came into the class with imposter syndrome, and not only did I forget about it along the way, but I also became more confident in my work and myself. I am incredibly thankful for this experience.
I know professional practices is not just a class; it is a lifelong practice; this journey is just the beginning.
