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back for a minute! Hello again studyblr!

So some updates with me, just for fun:

This studyblr’s been largely ignored for a couple years now, given that I... don’t study anymore since I graduated, hah. A lot has happened. Not that I updated here particularly often, or wrote about myself in much detail, but I’m working on myself in more ways than one. And part of that involves being able to talk about my accomplishments and practicing that kind of thing.

By some miracle, I graduated on time, in spring quarter of 2018, from the UCLA Computer Science department. Since then, it’s basically been a direct funnel into the tech world, as most are expected to do. I got a job as an entry-level software engineer for a retail company in Seattle, and moved up here the August after graduating, starting work in September.

Work was treating me well! Solid engineer starting pay, good work life balance, decent benefits (and a fantastic discount), interesting work but nothing terribly stressful - working for retail means at worst a mistake costs some sales, but nothing life threatening. I was learning a lot. It’s a bit hard to make friends in a new city, especially Seattle since it’s known for being generally full of introverts.

I can’t say exactly what gave me the idea, but I’ve had my eye on our User Experience (UX) designer role for a while. Engineers work with designers every so often on projects, and their role seemed interesting to me. I realized I tend to be a very visually oriented person - if I can see what I’m working on, especially from the customer’s perspective, it’s easier to keep my attention. I thought I’d try to be a front-end developer first, and then see if there’s an easy transition into UX. It just hasn’t been that simple.

So I focused on learning as much as I could as an engineer. People came and left from the company, I lost a manager, our team was in disarray for a few months, we got a new manager... things changed a lot. And through it all I realized I was getting more and more burnt out with engineering. I started to go from feeling good about work, to neutral, to actively disliking the thought of work every morning when I woke up. I started looking at UX certificate programs that were part-time and designed for professionals. The pressure from work plus my own pressure to just get started on a new career path was becoming a lot for me to juggle.

And then COVID-19 happened.

Retail took a huge hit. People were losing jobs, shopping less, unable to go out to stores... and my company furloughed a huge portion of employees. Myself included. With a projected return date, but no promise that they’ll be able to give us our jobs and pay back.

It was when I hardly mourned my job loss that I realized what an absolute blessing in disguise this was. How burnt out I really have been. I’m so much better off mentally now that I don’t work. (Though in this society, I’m sure that would be the case for a lot of people - capitalism binds us to productivity for survival...)

So what better time than my furlough to do a deep dive into a new career path? I’ve signed up for multiple online courses for introductions into UX, and that’s how I’m spending my quarantine. I’m back to studying, and it feels so much more captivating and self-willing than I felt at UCLA, which is a little depressing.

I want to build a portfolio in this time. I want to set myself up to be able to start a new career, to apply to jobs in it and actually have work and training worth looking at. It’s hard to motivate myself sometimes, but at the end of the day, the more research I do the more I want it.

Might start a blog section on my new portfolio where I log my journey, and make posts like this. Who knows?

If you got this far, thank you for listening to my story.

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UCLA gives me chills

Happy 100 years of UCLA I’m so thankful that my time on earth has been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of all of this :’)

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By: Alina Ermilova | alinaermilova

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Spent the afternoon writing letters

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9.20.18; 14/100 ✨

I always thought I wasn’t good at math until I realized all it took was more effort, more patience, and more determination. I’m so glad that after a 3 year break from college I have come back 100% commited to my goals and grades. It feels really good ♥️

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how do you pronounce Bruin? and are UCLA students known as ‘Bruins’?

“broo win”

yes we are bruins lol 

(bruins are bears in real life hence bear mascot)

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new weekly agenda!!

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So I’ve moved to a new studyblr! To those who don’t know me, I’m Maddy and I live in New Zealand 🇳🇿

To kick it off here’s some photos of what my desk normally looks like - at the moment I’m sharing my room with my French exchange student so everything has been moved around :)

Fun fact about me: I’m a classically trainer singer, mezzo-soprano soloist and 1st soprano in choral work. It sounds really snobbish but I really enjoy it!

Top row Toothless and bottom row, 3rd from left by the lovely @ecflorescere (the other art pieces were done by my just as talented friends who don’t have tumblr!)

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July 22, 2018 // Sunday

A new tea place with Jenn today! I finally got a taste of this cheese cap trend (tried the osmanthus oolong + cheese foam and it was good but also so expensive). Finished lots of chem today yesterday and today when I was out, but did nothing once I got home LOL I felt so lazy. Also I’m pretty glad I’m taking 14CL right after finishing 14C because there is a lot of repetition

Ah I finally have to start waking up early on Mondays, my one day off. I got up at 11 am today oops I spent like an hour last night and an hour this morning just looking through the love o2o tag on Tumblr lmao. I think I’ve finally gotten over the cdrama bUT I’M NOT OVER 楊洋 bye. 

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06-01-18 Productivity day at the library. Exam month, 50 days of productivity

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i. late night studying [listen here]

instrumental chillhop for those late night trips to the library ft. the xx, wun two, limes, and more

ii. intense studying [listen here]

the ultimate focus playlist for meeting those deadlines  ft. hanz zimmer, claude debussy, yiruma, and more

iii. early morning studying [listen here]

sunday morning: cup of tea in one hand, highlighter in the other ft. oh wonder, alt-j, lana del rey, and more

iv. studying? don’t know her [listen here]

upbeat indie pop because sometimes you just need a break ft. the wombats, circa waves, M83, and more

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5.3.2018 | Got to enjoy a wonderful new coffee shop today and everything about it was perfect! My husband is at a medical conference on rural healthcare, so I’m bopping about a new town sipping coffee (after coffee, after coffee…) and working my way through this devotional writings collection. Also, it’s been rainy all day and there are thunderstorms expected - ideal study weather if you ask me!

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Studying on a cloudy day. 🌦🍒

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💜

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Making case notes is so much better with a kitty study buddy.

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11am // journaling & brek