My First Month as a UX Designer

Don’t ever discount the experiences you’ve had in life and how they might help you down the road when it’s time to make a career change.

First, a little backstory.

When I was 19 years old, I hopped on a plane headed straight for Brazil. I was young, had never the left United States, and was experiencing flight for the first time in my life. I was fortunate to get a window seat. With my seatbelt securely, and oh-so tightly fastened, I watched the comforts of home slowly fade. After bouts of nausea and fifteen jet-lagging hours in the sky, I walked off the plane and stepped onto Brazilian ground. It was hot, busy, and the commotion of customs and a language barrier only added to my naive confusion of entering another country. I persevered, trudged my way through those first few weeks, and started to feel comfortable being on foreign soil.

I spent 700 days with the Brazilians. I ate their food, walked their streets, and helped countless numbers of individuals and families. In what can only be described as a bittersweet farewell, my heart was full of gratitude and appreciation as I boarded the plane to come back to the United States. As we made our ascent, the neighborhoods became distant and the commotion of the city streets grew silent. I’ll admit it… I cried a little. It was hard to leave a people and a culture that now…