My entry into UX has only been recent, but it has been a long time in the making. Back in highschool, I decided to study Anthropology at University. And while I was interested in cultural anthro, I was planning to focus on archaeology and the role of art and design on ancient cultures (but let’s be honest, I really just wanted to be like Indiana Jones.) By the time I entered my final year, I was planning to go on to a masters degree in Archaeology when I took a course on ethics and suddenly realized that as a privileged white girl from the United States, I couldn’t go into other countries and dig up other peoples’ past. The best I could do was teach archaeology to the descendents of the Egyptians and the Mayans and let them discover their own history so artifacts stay in their own countries, but I didn’t want to do that.

So I had to rethink my life. I was interested in people and what makes them tick and in subcultures and their role on individual thinking, and I was interested in art and design, and I enjoy writing and research.  But I hadn’t heard of UX, so I focused on Graphic Design for 10 years, but there was always something missing.

Then I discovered UX and it was like I was a fish who had been born and grew up in a little tide pool. At first it was enough, but eventually I couldn’t breathe or stretch or swim. So I took a leap over the side and discovered a whole ocean. And now I’m seeing how far I can swim.