Summery Summary
I’m starting to reflect on how my summer has been. I start school in nearly two weeks and I get my wisdom teeth out next week. I’m close to finishing up a 10 week internship, where I’ve learned and done more than I thought possible, at a place that I didn’t even apply to and got the job after a single phone interview. More than anything else, I’m starting to realize how unexpected everything in my life is and learning to roll with the punches that life deals is the best part of it.
Sure, I spent eight hours a day in an office building in Atlanta for most of my days, but I had a chance to work on creating better user experiences for millions of people (or at least in a few months when it goes live). I met awesome people, I got free food sometimes, and even went on a free trip to Top Golf. I learned so much and got to apply basically everything I’ve been learning for the last year.
Last summer, as a Web Development Intern at ADP, I started to realize that I couldn’t dedicate my life to writing code, mainly because I cared more about the “why” and “who” the software was being made for than the “how”. I started learning how to make illustrations, create interfaces and learn the basics behind user interface design. A year and a few days later, I feel like I’m actually becoming the designer that I wanted to be. It’s ridiculous to me how much can change in such a short time. I was miserable writing code that I didn’t really understand, hating learning about theory that felt like it was irrelevant, and now I’m in the best place I’ve ever been in my life mentally.
It was a tough decision at the time, and difficult to convince my parents that it was worth it, but I feel like they’re buying it now. The biggest cause for concern for them was that design is that design has no standardized path to becoming a designer. The top designers, like Verne Ho or John Maeda, started out in all sorta of roles including roles in business, development, environmental engineering and more.
I’ve found that the most valuable resources have been other people, from my first designer friend Stephen to my brother and his friends in San Francisco, to the random successful designers I keep pestering over social media. I could spend hours scouring LinkedIn or reading every Medium article in the entire world, but I’ve found that an hour speaking with someone who has experienced how things go is not only more entertaining but far more informative.
I’m starting to understand that there is more possible than I can imagine when genuine interest aligns with effort.
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Personal Essay
“What Would it Take for an American Guy to Become Danish?” by Andrew Richdale - lovely piece about an American in Copenhagen. I find myself becoming interested in the Danish culture from the stories I hear from my friend who studied there and what the world seems to present to me.
Playlist
stay inside with earl sweatshirt and knx - This is a playlist of songs from a radio show of two of my favorite artists: Earl Sweatshirt and Knxwledge. It includes a variety of hip hop, r&b and electronic music.
Rad Interface
Open Continents - really cool interface for looking at short films from all over the world. Fun to check out!
Thanks so much for reading! If you have any comments/concerns or fan/hate mail for me, you know how to reach me (links below).
Love,
Nikhil