It started with a 7th-grade class election campaign poster and has turned into almost a decade of doing the work I love. Though my tools have changed from pencil crayons and construction paper cutouts, I have carried that same love of communicating a message visually to my work today. Design has the power to change minds, educate, ask questions, and sell products. Good design will make your viewer think – and isn't that the goal? We all want to be regarded and remembered. My goal is to lead and create designs that allow the client to connect with their viewer, whether they are a current customer or not. I go the extra mile to test and gather feedback during the draft stage, as well as after a project has launched. If I can make something better next time, why wouldn't I? Feedback and restraints make for wonderful additions to future briefs, and become another challenge to tackle and overcome. Accessibility, cultural significance, legibility, readability...all need to be considered first and revisited before completion – we should all strive to connect with as many people as possible while respecting each new unknown.Throughout the changes in my career, I have learned quite a bit about myself:1. I love to learn. I take multiple classes every year and obsessively learn the ins and outs of new features added to my existing arsenal of programs and devices.2. Coffee is a beautiful thing, and I consider myself an aspiring coffee snob. With the number of pour-overs and taste tests I've completed since 2020, I believe I'm most of the way there!3. Accessibility-first has become natural to me, and will only become more important as time goes on. Working on the Wayfinding and Signage side of public transportation has exposed me to many visible and invisible disabilities, and I strive to create a world where it is a little bit easier to navigate. I easily connected to this philosophy when I realized I had internalized the difficulties my father faces as a wheelchair user.4. I love to organize. Projects, timelines, people, artwork – I love having discussions with coworkers, both junior and senior, to determine the best way to do things. If it feels wrong, let's discuss it! Why? What were the issues? Who should be involved that wasn't, so we can work more seamlessly the next time?Almost a decade after finishing school, I'm still learning. Though I may take out that elementary-era poster and cringe at the design, I know I'd be excited to take a crack at it again, with all my learnings to guide me.