Written by Samantha Klein, Photos by Nick Thomsen and Samantha Klein
Graduating college has been a liberating experience. It began with much needed free time to relax and reflect. I cannot stress enough the importance of all the people who helped me get this far, and how bittersweet it was to say goodbye.
After graduation, I began the move from Savannah to Austin, where I would start my new job at IBM. Moving kept me busy for a bit, but it wasn’t long before I became bored and antsy. Having free time was surprising since I had very little during college. As odd as it may sound, I missed how busy I used to be. Even after work began, I still had plenty of free time afterward.
To fill the time, I started to explore different events and communities through Facebook and MeetUp. I’ve participated in things such as yoga in the park, pursuing new skills like kayaking and discovering new cafes [because I miss Foxy Loxy]. Being in a new city can be scary, especially when you don’t know many people in the area. It was actually my brother who told me to do something at least three times a week, which has helped me get more acquainted with the area.
During my first day at IBM, I discovered their campus had an entire building dedicated to design. I was completely elated to find whiteboards on almost every wall accompanied with numerous sticky notes for ideation. Truly a designer’s dream space. There’s also no dress code, and the overall atmosphere of the building is pretty relaxed and fun. Each of the surrounding team spaces have their own personality, which
Other than the workspace, so far, I have been completing onboarding material to get acquainted with IBM’s design method. Which honestly isn’t too different from what I was learning at SCAD. Aligning myself with the terminology has been the largest learning curve. For example, IBM refers to problem statements as hills. Otherwise, SCAD’s UX program already equipped me with how to practice user-centered research and design. It’s enlightening to realize how valuable SCAD’s program was, and to see how there aren’t many opportunities to gain formal training in UX.
Overall, everything still feels incredibly surreal. I don’t quite know what my next goal will be, but I am going to try to learn and grow as much as I possibly can. Even with the knowledge I gained from school, I can tell there is still so much I have to learn about collaborating with different talents within the workplace, such as DevOps or IT. Since many departments advocate for design, I’m excited to be able to advocate for design thinking.
I also don’t want to give the illusion that everything has been perfect. Moving to a new city and starting a new job has been quite exhausting. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t struggled with the change. In the end, my friends from college were the ones who helped me be more confident and I couldn’t be more thankful for their support. Now, the people around me continue to inspire me. Although change is not easy, I know it’ll
