I have suffered from anxiety for most of my life and it's kept me from doing so many things I wanted. For example, in high school and much of college, it kept me from socializing and speaking publicly, as I was constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing. However, the biggest negative impact it has had is it has prevented me from being an advocate for myself in my academic studies and personal career. In college, I studied Politics during my undergrad because I felt the pressure of my family to be a lawyer and was too anxious to go against them. However, by the time I was in the Junior year I knew it was something I didn't want to pursue. I dealt with severe anxiety over the issue and my grades suffered. While I did graduate, I left feeling lost, unsure and very anxious about the future. Over the years I fallen into a few different jobs but gradually I began to be more interested in graphic design and UX/UI. I would take online courses on the subject but my anxiety would always keep me from pursuing it further because I would tell myself that I can't afford school, no one would hire me without any experience, and completely changing careers is too risky at my age. It's now been nearly a decade since I graduated college and I'm finally ready to stand up to my anxiety and get a masters in Human Computer Interaction and Design. While I'm still scared and anxious to start an entirely new career in my 30s, I'm also excited by my new found strength and the possibility of finally having a career I actually enjoy. UX/UI perfectly marries all the aspects of my strengths. I’m very analytical and love solving practical problems but I’m also highly creative and a talented artist. However, dealing with anxiety has also made me very empathetic and while I want to personally enjoy my work, it’s also important to me that my work helps make a positive impact in the lives of others and working in UX/UI will allow me to do just that. Ultimately, in getting a masters in Human-Computer Interaction and Design, I hope to analyze human behavior and learn how to best design products that will improve the lives of all its users. I feel like I’ve finally found my purpose and while my anxiety still puts doubts and fears in my head on a daily basis, I'm learning to work through it and for the first time in years I'm more optimistic than anxious about my future.

I’ve always known that I want a career that helps improve the lives of others and especially those most often marginalized but I was never sure how best to do so until I came across the field of UX/UI. As someone who is very analytical, loves solving practical problems, but is also highly creative, UX/UI perfectly marries all my strengths. However, while I want to personally enjoy my work, it’s also important to me that my work helps make a positive impact in the lives of others and working in UX/UI will allow me to do just that. Furthermore, as a woman of color, it’s not lost on me that I have a unique perspective that is unfortunately so often missing from STEM fields so I feel the immense responsibility of using my voice and being a leader to ensure we create equitable products that work for all communities. So much of our world has been designed without taking into consideration the most vulnerable among us and yet with the internet, so much is continuously changing and we have the opportunity to ensure that the internet works for everyone, especially those most often forgotten and overlooked. For most of us, user interface is something we hardly notice, especially when there are no issues. We accomplish the tasks online that we set out to do and don’t think twice about how we got there and the individuals that made that process possible. However, when issues arise, the flaws are highly apparent as we struggle to accomplish our goals online. Although, without equitable designs, poor UX/UI can easily go from just being confusing to outright exclusionary. Whether it be a product not providing multiple language options, having a lack of assistive technology, or failing to recognize and/or provide options for people with darker complexions, without a diverse group of designers and decision makers, it's easy for our products to inherit society’s biases. On a personal level, I’ve seen the impact well designed products can have watched as my grandmother lost her vision and had to turn to technology in order to help her accomplish tasks she enjoyed like reading her daily paper. Without much computer literacy and a new disability, she was easily frustrated by technology and the circumstances she found herself in. However, in working with her, I taught her how to use assistive tech to have an iPad read her her daily news and I saw such a huge improvement in her temperament and outlook on life. That one simple ritual is so important to her in a stage of life where she doesn’t have much else and I was so happy I could help bring that to her through technology. Ultimately, I strongly believe having as many diverse voices as possible can only help to ensure that all perspectives are considered. It’s clear that UX/UI has the power to make so many people’s lives easier when done well and I only want to be a person in the room to ensure oversights don’t take place. Having a seat at the table in building the products that transform our online world and impact the lives of so many people would be such an honor I don’t take lightly,

I’ve always known that I want a career that helps improve the lives of others and especially those most often marginalized but I was never sure how best to do so until I came across the field of UX/UI. As someone who is very analytical, loves solving practical problems, but is also highly creative, UX/UI perfectly marries all my strengths. However, while I want to personally enjoy my work, it’s also important to me that my work helps make a positive impact in the lives of others and working in UX/UI will allow me to do just that. Furthermore, as a woman of color, it’s not lost on me that I have a unique perspective that is unfortunately so often missing from STEM fields so I feel the immense responsibility of using my voice and access to ensure we create equitable products that work for all communities. So much of our world has been designed without taking into consideration the most vulnerable among us and yet with the internet, so much is continuously changing and we have the opportunity to ensure that the internet works for everyone, especially those most often forgotten and overlooked. For most of us, user interface is something we hardly notice, especially when there are no issues. We accomplish the tasks online that we set out to do and don’t think twice about how we got there and the individuals that made that process possible. However, when issues arise, the flaws are highly apparent as we struggle to accomplish our goals online. Although, without equitable designs, poor UX/UI can easily go from just being confusing to outright exclusionary. Whether it be a product not providing multiple language options, having a lack of assistive technology, or failing to recognize and/or provide options for people with darker complexions, without a diverse group of designers and decision makers, it's easy for our products to inherit society’s biases. Ultimately, I strongly believe having as many diverse voices as possible can only help to ensure that all perspectives are considered. It’s clear that UX/UI has the power to make so many people’s lives easier when done well and I only want to be a person in the room to ensure oversights don’t take place. Having a seat at the table in building the products that transform our online world and impact the lives of so many people would be such an honor I don’t take lightly,

I have suffered from anxiety for most of my life and it's kept me from doing so many things I wanted. For example, in high school and much of college, it kept me from socializing and speaking publicly, as I was constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing. However, the biggest negative impact it has had is it has prevented me from being an advocate for myself in my academic studies and personal career. In college, I studied Politics during my undergrad because I felt the pressure of my family to be a lawyer and was too anxious to go against them. However, by the time I was in the Junior year I knew it was something I didn't want to pursue. I dealt with severe anxiety over the issue and my grades suffered. While I did graduate, I left feeling lost, unsure and very anxious about the future. Over the years I fallen into a few different jobs but gradually I began to be more interested in graphic design and UX/UI. I would take online courses on the subject but my anxiety would always keep me from pursuing it further because I would tell myself that I can't afford school, no one would hire me without any experience, and completely changing careers is too risky at my age. It's now been nearly a decade since I graduated college and I'm finally ready to stand up to my anxiety and get a masters in Human Computer Interaction and Design. While I'm still scared and anxious to start an entirely new career in my 30s, I'm also excited by my new found strength and the possibility of finally having a career I actually enjoy. UX/UI perfectly marries all the aspects of my strengths. I’m very analytical and love solving practical problems but I’m also highly creative and a talented artist. Lastly, I’m very empathetic and while I want to personally enjoy my work, it’s also important to me that my work helps make a positive impact in the lives of others and working in UX/UI will allow me to do just that. Ultimately, in getting a masters in Human-Computer Interaction and Design, I hope to analyze human behavior and learn how to best design products that will improve the lives of all its users. I feel like I’ve finally found my purpose and while my anxiety still puts doubts and fears in my head on a daily basis, I'm learning to work through it and for the first time in years I'm more optimistic than anxious about my future.

I’ve always known that I want a career that helps improve the lives of others and especially those most often marginalized but I was never sure how best to do so until I came across the field of UX/UI. As someone who is very analytical, loves solving practical problems, but is also highly creative, UX/UI perfectly marries all my strengths. However, while I want to personally enjoy my work, it’s also important to me that my work helps make a positive impact in the lives of others and working in UX/UI will allow me to do just that. Furthermore, as a woman of color, it’s not lost on me that I have a unique perspective that is unfortunately so often missing from STEM fields so I feel the immense responsibility of using my voice and access to ensure we create equitable products that work for all communities. So much of our world has been designed without taking into consideration the most vulnerable among us and yet with the internet, so much is continuously changing and we have the opportunity to ensure that the internet works for everyone, especially those most often forgotten and overlooked. For most of us, user interface is something we hardly notice, especially when there are no issues. We accomplish the tasks online that we set out to do and don’t think twice about how we got there and the individuals that made that process possible. However, when issues arise, the flaws are highly apparent as we struggle to accomplish our goals online. Although, without equitable designs, poor UX/UI can easily go from just being confusing to outright exclusionary. Whether it be a product not providing multiple language options, having a lack of assistive technology, or failing to recognize and/or provide options for people with darker complexions, without a diverse group of designers and decision makers, it's easy for our products to inherit society’s biases. Ultimately, I strongly believe having as many diverse voices as possible can only help to ensure that all perspectives are considered. It’s clear that UX/UI has the power to make so many people’s lives easier when done well and I only want to be a person in the room to ensure oversights don’t take place. Having a seat at the table in building the products that transform our online world and impact the lives of so many people would be such an honor and one I don’t take lightly.

So much of our world was designed without taking into consideration the most vulnerable among us. Yet with the internet, so much is changing each year and we have the opportunity to ensure that the internet works for everyone, especially those most often forgotten and overlooked. Equity within design is a huge value of mine and the reason I want to study UX/UI. Through an equitable user interface we can ensure that everyone, no matter their disabilities, knowledge of computers, or language capabilities, is listened to, considered, and can have a positive experience using the internet. On a personal level, I’ve watched as my grandmother lost her vision and had to turn to technology in order to help her accomplish tasks she enjoyed like reading her daily paper. Without much computer literacy and a new disability, she was easily frustrated by technology and the circumstances she found herself in. However, in working with her, I taught her how to use assistive tech to have an iPad read her her daily news and I saw such a huge improvement in her temperament and outlook on life. That one simple ritual is so important to her in a stage of life where she doesn’t have much else and I was so happy I could help bring that to her through technology. This experience with my grandmother helped lead to my interest in UX/UI. While I've always wanted to help make the world a better place with my work and studied Politics and Sociology in college in order to eventually do so, I soon learned that I would need to do something that would allow me to be creative as well as analytical in order to be fulfilled. It wasn’t until I discovered UX/UI that I realized that is what I should be doing. Having the capability to design and be creative while making a meaningful impact in how users around the world utilize the internet is truly my dream job. The internet has the capability to change people’s lives and I just want to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table and is able to engage.