How I landed at GA UX intense course

Jen L
Jen L
Aug 22, 2017 · 2 min read

Hi there. Welcome to my Medium.com blog. I am starting this blog as one of my pre-course assignment at General Assembly. I am starting their very intensive UX design immersive course next monday. It is a mix of excitement and nervousness. I am super excited because it signify a new beginning, a fresh start towards a much more exciting career and a much brighter future. I am nervous at the same time because of the unplanned future and the intensity of the course. Nevertheless, the excitement does overrule the nervousness.

I was born and raised in Ipoh, Malaysia. Trained as a graphic designer at San Jose State University, USA and moved into web design role ever since I’ve graduated. Due to personal decision, I was moved to come back to SEA for an indefinite time frame. Who knows… I might just end up in Singapore for the rest of my life!

After landing in Singapore and without a job for more than 6 months, going in and out of Malaysia, I finally got a regional web designer position at Crocs. It was really tough at the beginning, as I was the web designer, web developer and tech support for all APAC websites, all in one role. As people came and go, I have taken up extra challenges that is not design related, but 1 thing remained the same, I have always been responsible for the creative for APAC websites. In a blink of an eye, 7 years have passed and it seems like it has just happened yesterday!

I have been toying with the idea of doing something different for a couple of years now — from studying full time as an MBA student to becoming a talk host at Mediacorp! But each one of these just doesn’t sit too right for me and the fear of starting all over again have always held me back.

Until just a few months back, finally it dawn on me that a UX role is the perfect career transition for me! It will be a huge expansion from what I have been doing. Additionally, the possible direction of a UX role is huge — from being a UX researcher to UI designer. And that I will have a lot of chance to talk to a lot of people excites me a lot!

The minute I became clear, all I know at that time was “I am going to be a UX designer”, I started to bump into a number of people who help me out big time along the way. As if I was truly guided. All I need to do was listen, trust, go with the flow and take action accordingly. One thing leads to another — I got accepted into GA, my manager approved my leave, and the right freelancer appear — things and people just fall into place to make my journey into GA possible! I am really grateful!

Thank you for reading my self introduction blog. I sure hope you will be with me as I embark on this exciting journey!

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