I had the chance to attend the “Owning Your Story” event this past Thursday and it went well! All three of the panelists were very informative and gave great advice on owning your brand and how to go out into the design world and make it. I resonated a lot with  Associate Creative Director, Shaton Winston’s story. He studied and worked in a field were he didn’t see himself fit in and spent sometime trying to figure out where he belonged in the world. He mentioned how we should want to do something we care about and to figure out what it is that we might want to do and our desires.

Ruki R ‘s story was also similar to mine in the sense that she never felt like she “fit in.” However, she explained that by not fitting in, you stand out. I thought that was very strongly put and a lot of the students attending the event could relate to her story. At the end, I spoke with Ruki and thanked her for coming and presenting for us. She and I are both South Asian and she mentioned in her talk that her parents have a hard time understanding what she does for a living and wonders why she won’t just do something else and during our one on one, we spoke about that. I also asked her about any upcoming events at Cooper- Hewitt (where she worked) and she mentioned one that I might attend with the Art and Design Club. Ruki gave me her business card too!