STA Blog

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!

This summer, I spent time interning in Boston! I worked with the Accelerator team at Boston Children’s Hospital and was able to learn a lot about internal workings of a hospital. As someone hoping to work in healthcare someday, it was really eye-opening to see how designers fit into the landscape of a large hospital. I mainly worked with shaping experiences of the patients and their families– this was anywhere from reshaping the check-in process, to exploring the patient portal.

Given that this was my second summer in Boston, I found that a lot of the exploring I did was revisiting my favorite places. It was an interesting experience being able to navigate the city like a local and show people around. That being said, I had never missed Austin more than I did this summer. Living in a city that growing quickly– there’s always something new to see; but Boston being an older city, I found myself being taken to the same places. One thing I didn’t miss? The heat. Boston stayed an even 80 degrees most of the summer, with the exception of a couple “heatwave days” where it launched up to 90.

I loved getting to be in a city with such a rich history, not only in the area, but with the people as well– many of the people I met were born and raised in Massachusetts, making Boston their home and hometown. With the amount of change that the Boston population goes through, I was able to meet people in every career and hear stories of the amazing things they were pursuing. It made me a lot more excited for the post-grad life– seeing what was possible and the opportunities I may have.

I had a lot of fun working with my team at BCH too! They were extremely supportive and I loved being around people who genuinely cared about the patients they were affecting with their decisions. It was interesting to see how larger teams work in tandem with other departments. I learned that in healthcare specifically, teams can be pretty siloed off, so it’s important to communicate with multiple leads and make sure everyone’s on the same page. I had a great time getting to exercise those skills as well as presenting to multiple audiences within the department.

All in all, this summer was a good time, but it also came with a bittersweet ending. Knowing I was about to begin my senior year made this summer a lot more nerve wracking, but I’m glad I got to get an experience I will remember in the future. Now that I’m back, I can’t wait to get started and make this year count!

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!

My Summer!!

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My Summer!!

For most of the summer, I was in Houston for a design internship at Gravity Global. It was amazing being close to home to spend time with my family while diving into the corporate world. I especially enjoyed working in the office and engaging with full-time employees. A highlight of the internship was a pitch project towards the end of the summer, where we had the opportunity to apply all the skills we’d learned from our mentors. Our team ultimately won the pitch, which was incredibly rewarding!

Attending client meetings was another highlight. I loved observing my mentor’s skillful and enthusiastic approach to guiding clients through her design process. It was also fascinating to see interns from various fields and skill sets come together to create a successful marketing pitch, each contributing their unique expertise. Overall, the internship provided a fresh perspective on graphic design and marketing, and I’m excited for the next step in my career.

Outside of work, I took a trip to Colorado with my family, where we explored the Rocky Mountains, Colorado Springs, and more. We tried river rafting for the first time, which was very nerve-wracking but fun! Additionally, my sister and I attended a Noah Kahan concert, which she has been looking forward to for a long time. The acoustics, merch, and overall vibe were great, and at one point, Noah even stood just two rows in front of us for a few songs!