Graduate School to Learn UX?

Last week a friend asked me why go to graduate school to learn UX, why not just fake it? There are several reasons why I decided to go to graduate school and why I chose UX as my major.

To answer part of his question, why not just fake it? I am not a good faker. I never have been.

Why go to graduate school at all? The first reason I decided to go to grad school, being deeper then most, my mom. My mom was the first person (and woman) in our family to go to college. Not only did she go to an IV League school for undergrad she did the same for her graduate degree. I had always wanted to accomplish at least part of what she did. Since she passed away in 2012, I know she would be proud of me. The second reason, I love learning. If I am not learning something, I am bored.

Why go to graduate school for UX? While I was doing a certificate of graphic design at University of Penn, I learned about interaction design. I found, combining how people think with design fascinating. It planted a seed of what I wanted to do but Jefferson University hadn’t launched the UX/UI graduate program yet.

I studied graphic design for my undergrad and after a slight diversion in careers went back to the field. I then worked as a graphic designer for 5 years full-time. I wanted to move forward with my career but realized no matter what graphic design job I had after a year I would be bored. The timing was right, I was ready to go back to dive into graduate school and Jefferson University now had a well established program.