Sep. 28, 2021
This week in ISM has been, at the very least, hectic. I have successfully reached out to possible mentors for interviews though have received no reply, I have begun to experiment with Adobe XD, and have plans on furthering my process on scheduling more interviews. I was also able to set up an interview with the admissions officer of the University of Texas at Austin’s UX/UI Design Boot Camp. Unfortunately though, I am required to have at least a high school diploma to be able to be considered for the camp. Essentially, this week has been composed of mostly one thing: waiting.
Javier Lopez, the family friend who I reached out to with the intent of obtaining an interview with a UX Designer at his company, has not yet reached back out to me so I plan on following up with him within the next day or two. Thankfully though, a colleague and very good friend of mine, Peyton Hebert, was able to set me up with a close professional of his, Ms. Rene Archambault. Ms. Archambault is currently the Deputy Director of Admissions and Marketing for SMU as well as the Board of Directors for the Dallas Branch of International Game Developers Association and sits on the steering committee for the Dallas County Community College District Gaming and Simulation program. Peyton was kind enough to contact her, inform her of my position as an entry-level UX Designer wanting to pursue a career in the video game industry, and I will be reaching out to her further tomorrow to formally introduce myself and converse together about our positions in relation to the gaming industry. As far as my progress with Adobe XD, I have been making some simple designs on my own to familiarize myself with the program. I plan on gaining more knowledge on the software, though, by watching videos and researching how designers navigate through the software from a UX/UI standpoint.
Though this week has felt like a lot of action has been taken with no result, I was still able to obtain a lead with Ms. Archambault and am so grateful that I have been given the opportunity to get in touch with her. Next week, I will be reaching out to more professionals to gain an insight into their careers as well as figure out how to navigate through Adobe XD from a design perspective. I am very happy with how much progress I have made so far and hope to learn more about the industry through these upcoming interviews.
