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STA Program… Till We Meet Again

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STA Program… Till We Meet Again

This semester, I will be taking a break from my role as an STA. I have had such a wonderful time being a part of the STA Program in my freshman year. In the fall semester, I worked in the Surplus department where I managed and wiped information computer assets before they were handed over to UT Surplus.

In the Spring semester, I joined the Design Lab and worked on so many interesting projects. I first worked on migrating all digital assets in the Kiowa Calendar Project (https://kiowacalendars.org/) to Github Large File Storage from a 3rd party file storage solution. My second project, The Texas Politics Project (https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/), involved simplifying the code and transferring the project from a previous web framework (grav) to a new framework (custom).

I look forward to returning as an STA. I loved working for this team. Working with both my managers – Stacy & De’sha has been amazing. I will miss their guidance and support as mentors from Day One. Shoutout to the both of them for serving as excellent resources and running the STA program so smoothly. I will also miss working with my fellow STAs 🙁

With that said, I am only taking a break from the STA program and I’m looking forward to focusing on school & being a TA! STA Program, till me meet again.

8/26/24 – 8/29-24

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8/26/24 – 8/29-24

This week, I went right back to working on the Voting PSA animation.

I ended my summer session by submitting two animatics and received feedback on them when I came back for the school year. Here are the two animatics:

Reminder with text:
https://utexas.box.com/s/mpqtar3ozbfy0p95ardilnp6x9ibzwkm

Reminder with clock:
https://utexas.box.com/s/xb9hs0d9d1pns13ufrauaidpw64nv51m

The first animatic was chosen and I was tasked with adjusting it further by changing the color palette. That can be seen in this animatic:

https://utexas.box.com/s/w9d79n9i2dsv19p9b2lq189d457vw1ob

This was approved and I began on the icons that will be used for the animation. Here is the first iteration of the icons I created.

Summer!

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Summer!

I spent most of my summer working here at LAITS; however, when I wasn’t working, I spent my time exploring Austin alongside my friends who also resided here over the summer. We visited many of the local coffee shops, shopped at thrift stores for clothes and knick-knacks, and tried many restaurants!

Another thing I dedicated a lot of time to was working on projects for my portfolio. I decided to revamp my entire portfolio to better showcase my best work to try and land an internship for the summer going into my senior year.

After the end of my summer session at LAITS, I returned home to Houston while I waited out the gaps between my old and new apartment’s lease. A week or so after moving in, I went on a 3-day trip to New York City with some friends! It was the first time I went on a trip with friends so it was very exciting.

This was the first summer where I spent most of it away from my family. I did miss them, but I felt like this summer was great for allowing me to grow more as an individual! I hope I can continue to keep this up throughout the school year!

My Most Productive Summer to Date

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Back From an Insane Summer

I can’t say I had much of a summer break as I spent my summer doing the UT Semester in Los Angeles Program where I essentially worked around the clock. But it was one of the most beneficial experiences I’ve had at UT (besides being an STA of course).

I spent my summer in LA completing internships and taking Hollywood based classes provided by the program. I interned at MorningStar Entertainment and HappyNest Entertainment, 2 very different types of production experiences as MorningStar was mainly a history and true crime documentary production company and HappyNest is a kids animation distribution company. The experiences I gained from both companies was absolutely crucial to my growth as an animation student. While I have many technical skills in animation, I learned so much about pitching, negotiating, budgeting, and the inner workings of producing a well-made story.

While the internship is the main seller of the UTLA program, I’d say some of my most valuable experiences was all the animators I met who were super kind and made it obvious that all they wanted to do was to help animators break into a very scary industry. They were kind enough to get coffee with me and even show me around their workplaces!

I think what I took away most from the UTLA program is how to prioritize my work schedule and realizing that I’m very capable of hard work despite my inner monologue. I was always working and always networking and when I wasn’t working, I was seeing friends and going to different events. I never really had a day off. I not only want to take that work ethic into my career, but also as an STA to make sure the projects I get are up to my best ability.

without making this post too long, that about wraps up my summer! I’m so glad to be back as an STA and continue working with people and making art and graphics to be viewed by thousands of students!

Summer in the City

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Summer In The City

My Corporate Era

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to intern at Siegel + Gale’s New York City office as an Experience Intern. It was an extraordinary experience to work in such a big city at one of the top branding agencies in the country. Additionally, the chance to explore my passion for user experience and user interface design in a real work setting was truly invaluable. This experience allowed me to find how much I did actually enjoy UX/UI and how badly I want to keep working hard so post-grad I can return to NYC with a job in this field.

The Internship consisted of two main responsibilities one being the intern project, a prompt given to all the interns to complete as a team, and second being the client work assigned by manager. While both challenged me in different ways these tasks allowed me to grow as a designer and see where I have room to improve as well.

Overall, the friends and connections I made throughout this experience were invaluable. Working alongside talented professionals and fellow interns not only expanded my network but also provided me with a wealth of knowledge and support. The collaborative environment and mentorship I received greatly enriched my understanding of the industry and helped me refine my skills. I am excited to leverage these connections and lessons learned as I continue to pursue my career in UX/UI design, with a clearer vision of my future goals and a passion to contribute to the field of experience design.

The 5-9 After The 9-5

Along with the incredible work experience I gained, I also had the opportunity to live in New York City for three months! Exploring the city’s food scene, hanging out with friends, and soaking in the energy NYC has during the summer made every moment outside of work truly unforgettable. When coming to NYC I had the goal of going to a different coffee shop every chance I got and rating them all so I have a collection of pictures and notes. I am happy to announce that I did complete that goal and have succeeded in making the best list of NYC coffee shops!

Being in New York City for the summer has always been a dream of mine, and I feel incredibly fortunate and grateful to have had the opportunity to experience it. The combination of an enriching internship, city life, and meeting friends made this summer truly the best one ever. This experience has not only reinforced my passion for UX/UI design but also made me more motivated to continue my hard-work this school year. I will cherish these memories forever and I look forward to carrying these experiences with me into the future.

My Summer!

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My Summer!

Entering the World of Web Development

This summer I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try to learn some code! I took a course called Introduction to Web Development under the Global Career Accelerator Program in which I learned the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It was fast-paced and a little daunting at times, but I gained a good foundation for the work that goes into front-end web development as well as some professional development skills like teamwork, communication, time management, and giving/receiving feedback.

I’m hoping to retain the skills I gained by continuing to learn new web dev techniques and strengthening my grasp of the concepts from the course.

Trip to California

Now, for the (more) fun stuff 😉

I got to visit California! Among the places we traveled to were San Francisco, Monterey, Big Sur, and Yosemite National Park. Yosemite was absolutely gorgeous and getting to see the stars in the sky without any light pollution was a first time experience I’ll never forget.

Other Stuff

When I wasn’t hiking (supposedly) beginner-level trails and trudging through the trial and error process that is coding, I spent my time reading, drawing, watching The Bear/anime/the Olympics with my family, baking Olympic chocolate muffins with my best friend, and enjoying lazy days inside.

Now, it’s time to get back into the routine of school and my STA journey!