From Music to UX

If I had known about UX (User Experience) upon applying to college, would I still have chosen to major in vocal performance?

Probably.

At 17, I had it all figured out—or I at least had a five-plus-year plan: major in vocal performance, minor in environmental studies, classical mythology, or French & Francophone Studies (the latter was the winner), and then move to Chicago and audition my way into a musical while teaching voice on the side. So simple, I thought. I was being smart, right? And falling under that umbrella was studying classical music in undergrad, rather than musical theater, so I wouldn’t develop bad habits, borne of belting and exhausting myself through the perfectionism of the triple threat. I still stand by this decision, but what I didn’t foresee was just how brutal my college experience would be. And while I won’t get into the specifics of why and how my confidence in my musical abilities was essentially stripped completely to the bone for the duration of those four years (but you only need to ask), I will say that I wasn’t itching to submerge myself in such a competitive and seemingly one-track-minded environment: I needed a break.

I wondered if culinary school could be the answer—HA. How ridiculous does that sound? A break from competition? One-mindedness?? But baking was my number one refuge during high school. I would take my anger and frustration with my teachers’ lack of passion for the subjects they taught (one had the gall to dock me points because I printed out my climate change essay double-sided) out on *cue “Sugar, butter, flour” from Waitress*. But then my sister suggested Library Science, and for the first time in my life, I actively thought the words “I don’t want to be a librarian”. A little background info: my mum studied Library Science, and was a librarian in a few different libraries in our home states of Maryland and then Indiana, and loved it when seven-year-old me was somehow granted the greatest honor of helping her check books out to patrons. I used to tell people I either wanted to be an opera singer, librarian, or Serena Williams (seriously). Somewhere between the age of 15 and 21, my desire to become a librarian evaporated, and this realization was made even more obvious when Kate suggested I enroll in the Library Science program down the street at Indiana University Bloomington. Please note: Library Science is not just for future librarians; the degree actually opens a lot of doors to a countless variety of fields. Once convinced that this may not be such a bad idea, I made the last-minute decision to apply. My acceptance into the program will always be associated with the night I had a terrible reaction to a hydrocortisone shot I received as a result from my cat’s transference of poison ivy oil.

During orientation I neglected to digest the benefits of pursuing a dual masters in Library Science and Information Science, and it wasn’t until the end of my first year in the program that I 1. discovered the podcast Note to Self, and 2. had a conversation with my sister about the dual degree. Had this conversation not occurred, I maybe never would have ever discovered User Experience, let alone come to the conclusion that UX design was practically made for me. I’ve always been a computer person, but I didn’t think I wanted my eventual career to so intensely and continuously revolve around technology. But after listening to a couple episodes of Note to Self, I realized that maybe my frustration could be put to use in a computer-heavy position. But the tipping point was when my sister asked the question, “what about Information Science?” It’s one of those moments when looking back, you can see how dumb you were; that such a simple question, one part of you might have been asking for a while, but so quietly, isn’t registered it until it’s uttered by someone else, out loud. The very next week, I had a meeting to discuss my reasons for tacking on a second degree, applied that same day, and was approved less than 24 hours later. Another note: My reasoning behind the dual masters (I still didn’t know what I wanted to do post-graduation) was met by enthusiasm and the explanation that the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering actually encourages students in my position to consider the dual degree, something that went entirely over my head during orientation.

Thinking back to all the jobs I have had (performer, assistant stage manager, babysitter, music technician, usher, page turner, metadata intern, bookseller, music library circulation assistant, music reference librarian, bagel sandwich maker, costume assistant; and now, pet sitter, graduate/research/web assistant, and UX/UI designer and researcher intern) I guess it makes sense that I have had less experience with imposter syndrome than would be expected. It’s funny—I’ve waited two years to be able to call myself a UX Researcher/Designer, and now that I can, I still feel like I’m faking it; as if at any minute, someone is going to tell me that this was all a ruse. And I think a lot of it stems from how I landed my first and current position as a designer and researcher in the field of UX. I’ll delve more into the resources I used to educate myself and network in my next post, but long story short (for now), in a fit of pique from seeing too many UX positions wanting a unicorn and/or junior-level researchers and designers, I wrote about my frustration on a Slack channel, to which I received an email asking if I was interested in interning as a UX Designer for a company called Curl IQ. I jumped at this opportunity and had a brief interview—more like a friendly chat—with the co-founder Kym, and was asked after about 15 minutes if I’d like to join the team. I was shocked (and thrilled), and said yes immediately. It’s been a little under two months, and I am loving it. More about that later, too. But the thing is…

I spent about a total of eleven months job searching and applying to over two hundred job postings, and the ratio of applications to responses was pathetic and utterly soul-crushing. Physically, I didn’t give up (shout out to my Passion Planner), but internally I was questioning just about everything. Was this the time to put all my eggs in one basket? I was (and still am) working for three IU professors, so I was still earning money; but how much longer would I be able to work for them, given that I was no longer a new IU alumna? I am very grateful to Kym for taking a chance on me. I had been hearing horror stories about multiple interviews (more typical for a full-time position), “take-home” assignments in between interviews and the decision processes (which are pretty controversial, given that companies get away with not having to pay the interviewees a cent, while getting free labor on projects directly beneficial to their work). All this to say, there is no right way to go about job searching. I was told just weeks before landing this internship that if I was serious about pursuing UX Design and wanted to be taken seriously by employers, I would have to get certified. I had just begun my bootcamp research (there are so many great ones out there) when I had my interview, but if I hadn’t gotten the internship, that’s where I probably would be now.

So, If I had known about UX (User Experience) upon applying to college, would I still have chosen to major in vocal performance? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I would have. It took four years of terrifying music theory classes and feeling musically inadequate so much of the time to be able to walk away from a life that would allow me to do very little else. Because of my change in dream career, I have found a compromise with my musical relationship, and, surprise, surprise, I think it’s healthier than ever! I’ve been able to teach myself guitar during this pandemic, and start writing music after a very long hiatus.

This turned out to be a much longer post than intended, but I hope this is helpful to those of you reading this (or skimming, I don’t blame you!). And I would love to connect with you if you’re interested in chatting about job searching, networking, my dream career which is slowly becoming a reality, and anything else on your mind!

Until next time (hopefully sooner than later!)