‍I’m based in Ann Arbor, MI, but from the Metro Detroit area, which, as much as I hate to admit it, is basically the same experience. I attended the University of Michigan, although I ended up spending more time tutoring people than I did actually attending class. I never really found my footing in college and have spent the last few years at various customer service jobs, most recently as a manager at a local supermarket.

Working in a customer-facing role is a challenge, but I’ve grown from learning how to deliver outstanding outcomes. It’s helped me become more confident, and more importantly, has also taught me to work quickly and efficiently to resolve issues and meet customer needs.

As mentioned above, I like to study Japanese. I took classes through high school and college but taught myself the fundamentals as a child and have been learning and practicing ever since. The process has really expanded how I think about and see the world, and not just because I can read my favorite manga every week without having to wait for a translation. Learning the nuances of Japanese has made me think more critically about how we use language to communicate and has made my writing more intentional and precise.

A Perfect Fit

If I had known about UX Design back in college, I probably wouldn’t have dropped out. Well, maybe not. But I would have been way more engaged if I’d known there was a field that melded all of my interests together. 
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While I enjoy movies and video games, I’m always less interested in seeing the ending than I am in seeing how it was made. I’m fascinated by the creative process. I’m the type of guy who listens to the DVD commentary for his favorite movies and shows on repeat and will buy artbooks for games I’ve never played because I’m interested in learning
about why the weapons were designed a certain way. You could say I’m more into the story of the story than the story itself.

That’s why UX Design is so appealing to me. Though I’ve done my share of web and graphic design, I end up enjoying the process of planning a design more than actually building it (While I say that, I often find myself spending hours in Figma or Photoshop without realizing it). When I get the urge to write, I end up spending way more time planning and sketching ideas than actually writing. In UX, I’ve finally found a field where I can not only make things, but get to spend a lot of time thinking about how things are made.
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Again, why didn’t I know about UX Design back in college?! (Probably because it was called Human-Interface Interactions back then).