Small Town Raised, Big Dreams Gained
When I initially began pursuing my Master's in UX, my passion was geared toward merging technology with accessibility. My original career aspirations were focused on the cognitive sciences so naturally, I had ambitious goals to be a bridge that could link the human element to the technological side. This is why my initial case study was 2nd Friend, which regrettably sounds like a cheap dating app. Despite the delivery, this showed my trust in UX as a tool for translating research findings into meaningful designs for those who need them most. Both my undergrad assistantships (Behavioral Activation program & VR detection deception) introduced me to cognitive and philanthropic solutions to assist in this.
However, much has changed since my 2nd month in grad school when I originally wrote this and I think it harkens back to why I left my hometown and enlisted. Growing up in a small town around Pittsburgh there were two things I wholeheartedly knew: (1) that I wanted to see the world and (2) that my parents definitely couldn't afford college. Luckily my older brother joined the Army during my senior year of high school so I decided to one-up him and join the Navy. The prototypical “just change it up a bit so it doesn’t look like you copied” response from a younger sibling.
7 years later I was able to live in countries I dreamed of visiting and visited countries I never knew I would see. Yet best of all, I could finally afford an education! Only through a GI Bill of course. Looking back, my military tenure was something I needed although it didn’t feel like it at the time. I was able to experience food outside of Applebee's hamburgers and meet people other than high school classmates at the local gas station. I fell in love with the world so much that I decided to bring someone back home with me, my wife from Lebanon named Joanna (who I ironically met in Ohio).
But to get back on track, during one of my seemingly never-ending deployments, I finally figured out my academic passion from a leisure reading on a night watch. A book I ordered from Amazon called Phantoms of the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by Dr. V.S. Ramachandran piqued my curiosity for cognition.
7 years later I was able to live in countries I dreamed of visiting and visited countries I never knew I would see. Yet best of all, I could finally afford an education! Only through a GI Bill of course. Looking back, my military tenure was something I needed although it didn’t feel like it at the time. I was able to experience food outside of Applebee's hamburgers and meet people other than high school classmates at the local gas station. I fell in love with the world so much that I decided to bring someone back home with me, my wife from Lebanon named Joanna (who I ironically met in Ohio).
But to get back on track, during one of my seemingly never-ending deployments, I finally figured out my academic passion from a leisure reading on a night watch. A book I ordered from Amazon called Phantoms of the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by Dr. V.S. Ramachandran piqued my curiosity for cognition.
Now studying UX seems like a couple of steps removed from neurology or applied cognitive research but my instinctive path still tracks all the same. As you look through my portfolio you'll notice a trend, or lack thereof. My interests in my portfolio bounce around from caregiver assistance to anime curation to financial modeling. Admittedly, the trend is I just like to learn and I just love to discover. My passion project was a chosen end-to-end case study much like 2nd Friend. Partly for the experience, but mostly for the enjoyment of a different perspective for an already understood schema.
Now, I could've spent time talking about, my ability to conduct empirical research, translate high-level data to stakeholders, facilitate usability testing and think-aloud, or even display my Figma skillset by providing a prototype...but that is what my portfolio is for.
To the few people who will read this, I wanted to convey a clear sense of who I am and the experience I bring wherever I go. With a further emphasis on my commitment to discovery. I’ve never seen myself as someone who spends 40+ years in a single career field but rather as someone devoted to 40+ years of continuous learning. Specialization is typically the result of someone's passion and mine has no limits.
Now, I could've spent time talking about, my ability to conduct empirical research, translate high-level data to stakeholders, facilitate usability testing and think-aloud, or even display my Figma skillset by providing a prototype...but that is what my portfolio is for.
To the few people who will read this, I wanted to convey a clear sense of who I am and the experience I bring wherever I go. With a further emphasis on my commitment to discovery. I’ve never seen myself as someone who spends 40+ years in a single career field but rather as someone devoted to 40+ years of continuous learning. Specialization is typically the result of someone's passion and mine has no limits.
If you happened to make it this far, you should follow all the way through and shoot me a message!!
Thank you for reaching out! I'll get back to you soon!