my unsatisfied appetite for the new knowledge
Life is replete with attractions. If one can make a choice out of such a skein of attractions and stick to this choice with a lifelong commitment, this is a form of happiness and, as such, the choice is a sensible one. In fact, isn't that the ultimate goal of a free life? To have the guts to pursue what one loves and to have the grit to insist on no matter how difficult it seems to be. In fact, it took me until I started to work to really figure out that I wanted to do anything at all related to design work in the digital media area.
With my keen love, I steeped myself in Visual Communication Design in East China Normal University for four years and mastered the basic knowledge for the future career in the field of design. During my undergraduate period, I also obtained the opportunity of studying in NABA, (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) at Milan, the world-famous arts center, for one semester, broadening my horizons and implanting in my mind the state-of-the-art design conceptions. By then, even though I was fascinated with the art and design world, I was still unsure about my future career path. Can I be a successful designer in the future? Would the distinction between school and company out of my expectation and too hard for me to adapt to?
Then, I started to work in Qoros Auto Co., Ltd, a vehicle company based in Munich and Shanghai as a graphic designer, doing a good job by virtue of my solid foundation of design skill and outstanding drawing ability. At that time, I didn't realize that it was just the beginning of the journey. I have been developed a keen interest in the digital media area by being exposed to VR technologies and interactive devices for the first time in the company. I won't say it was an epiphany that I knew I was going to focus on this area for my future career. But one step in a journey, I started wandering around the interaction design and getting in touch with the interactive digital products and environments. Looking back at the past year, I felt that I've never been so lucky as I gained the opportunity to work with a bunch of great people from all over the world after my first year of graduation. My Germany boss, a VP of the design department, was previously worked as a design director for Mini Cooper Auto Co., Ltd in Munich. Our design director in the team comes from UK, he's not only a great car designer, a patient leader but also a decent professor, has been teaching transportation design in UK and Spain before joining the company. Both of them gave me tremendous encouragement and infinite inspiration in my work. I learned from them, seeing design from a different perspective which is bare can be learned from school. More importantly, they gave me a heuristic impact on digital media during the work as we often came into contact the digital media products such as VR, AR, and Human interaction devices. Since then, I have had a great interest in digital media. Compared to the Graphic design, I believe that digital media brings people a livelier visual impact, which will be the trend of new media development.
It's always a prevalent challenge. When you finally find out what you are interested in, quitting your job, leaving your family and heading to another foreign country to pursue your ideal. However, as a thinker, a supporter of life-long learning and adorer of new things, I'm eager to learn more about digital media, particularly in interaction design on the basis of my specialty in graphic design. Therefore, I came to Toronto, learning User Experience Design at Humber College since September of 2018. In October, I was asked by my program coordinator, professor George Paravantes to work on a garden landscaping project with him. I was mainly responsible for the mobile app UI and UX design. It's a such a great opportunity that this project enables me to apply the theoretical design skills that I learned from Humber into the practical environment. Truth to be told, the work is challenging but that's the part of the reason why I love what I do.
Several internships over the last 5 years and one year's fulltime working experience have helped me in finding myself and in consequence, setting myself apart from my peers. I have realized that I learn better when put into a practical, result-oriented environment. And I have never been so clear, that after serious consideration, my ultimate goal of academic, is to study at Ryerson University's Digital Media Program. I know this program will help me attain all that I wish as an interaction designer. I would like to be specialized in media and technology industry after the completion of the MDM program if I could have the chance to be enrolled; I hope I can be a sophisticated interaction designer and contribute as much value as I can to the society and bring positive impacts on every settler's daily life.
I am constantly learning, from myself, my peers, my working environment, etc. but to be able to learn from the pioneers of the field will be priceless. The Master of Digital Media Program will sharpen my ability to express my visual thought, address and resolve various Design concerns. People always say good things come to those who wait, however, I believe that better things only come to those who go out and get them. This is what I have always been proving, to find out what I want, and to stick into it, to build grit in my body and my mind, and eventually, to get it. There is no better time to live out your dream than now and therefore, after my serious consideration, I firmly decided to choose Ryerson University to meet my unsatisfied appetite for the new knowledge and create influential design works in the near future.
