From Doctor -> Accountant -> UX/UI Designer
My Journey about what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to be.
As a kid, I had always wanted to be a Doctor or a Scientist. I would proudly walk around with my small “scientific notebook” and write down different experiments, or I would use my toy stethoscope to check on Barbie and make sure she wasn’t ill. I couldn’t wait to grow up and fulfill one of those roles. I dreamed of growing up and helping people. I also had few doctors in my family so I thought I was destined to be one as well. I held on to this dream till high school.
9th grade, Biology class – this is where my dreams died. It was time for us to dissect a fetal pig (gross). It was a group assignment and I volunteered myself to be the recorder so I wouldn’t have to touch it. In fact, during the whole assignment, I stood few feet away from the “crime scene” with a Lysol under my nose to combat the foul smell. And when the assignment was over and everyone else was laughing and throwing parts of the sad little pig around yelling “spaghetti!”, I was ducking and hiding under tables. This is when I knew I wasn’t cut out to be a Doctor.
Fast forward to senior year in high school. It was time to decide what I wanted to study in college. I thought maybe I should do something in Business. After-all, my dad was a successful Businessman and I looked up to him. So, I thought about majoring in business and becoming a CPA. My dad also highly encouraged it. Subsequently, I spent the next 5 years grinding and studying to become a CPA and somehow also ended up majoring in Psychology. Not because I wanted to be a Psychologist, but because I really enjoyed learning about the human mind and behavior. In the end, the grueling accounting and tax classes are what made me realize that I DID NOT want to be an Accountant, AT ALL! Advanced Accounting exams stressed me out so much, that I would draw Lion King scene and giant trees all over my bedroom walls as a stress reliever.
But it was too late to change majors so I graduated with my double major and a certificate in Accounting. It was time to start thinking about my career. I naturally ended up becoming a Business Analyst. I enjoyed it a lot in the beginning. I loved working with various departments and learning about their processes and how I could help fix it. I loved fixing things and helping people and having the flexibility to think outside the box to come up with solutions. It all felt great and natural, until it didn’t. Then it started to feel redundant. I felt the role changing and I didn’t have as much freedom to be creative anymore. I continued with it, thinking it would be different again. I even got my MBA thinking that would help. I switched jobs, only to realize I wasn’t enjoying the roles anymore because there were less opportunities to be creative and I felt stuck in the same position without any opportunity for growth.
I knew it was time for a change. I had been thinking about getting into tech for few years by now but never had the courage. Then Covid-19 happened and I went through some changes in my personal life as well, but it was time to take a leap of faith and go for it. So, I did, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. With UX/UI design, not only do I get to continue learning about the human mind and behavior, but I also get to be creative again. I get to combine my passion of helping others with being able to design something aesthetically pleasing. I get to fulfill my childhood dream of growing up and helping people, just with different tools than I had originally planned.
