Week 5 - Good NEWS 🗞 !

This week, I am going to step off my user experience soap box, and share with you all some really exciting news. 

But.... 

What's good news without a little back story. 

(Disclaimer: Okay, I lied. Back to my soap box 😎) 

When I first began researching what user experience truly entailed, I came across this Medium post that questioned whether aspiring UX professionals truly needed a master's degree in UX. It helped me answer a lot of the questions I had concerning why would I want to spend money and time pursuing a graduate degree in UX design: 

1. To gain new skills and academic wisdom and do a deep dive into particular areas of the UX.
2. To get exposure to new things, ideas, viewpoints, and ways of thinking about design.
3. To work on [my] own thesis or project with total control and freedom.
4. To improve [my] researching, writing, and analyzing skillset.
5. To enhance your professional network.

These reasons coupled with mentor recommendations and advice ushered me into more research. I began searching for graduate programs that met my academic and professional needs. I knew I wanted to begin working immediately after graduation, but I did not want this to hinder my academic pursuits, so a fully online program was definitely something I needed. I also wanted to maintain some flexibility in my schedule while I pursued my Master’s so that I could still enjoy life outside of work and school (travel, conferences, etc.). 

After a great deal of research, I discovered Kent State's Online Master of Science in User Experience Design program and was quickly drawn in after noticing how the program's objective aligned with my future academic aspirations: to establish a competitive portfolio, and to build a transformative career within the user experience design field by mastering design and information architecture principles and standards via graduate studies. It did not take me long to begin preparing and collecting the necessary admissions requirement materials. 

Only a couple weeks after successfully getting my application in, I am pleased to announce that I have received my first acceptance letter into a user experience graduate program. I believe this particular Kent State program ensures that its graduates leave with a rich understanding of the psychological motivations and desires that draw users to particular products or services. I truly look forward to learning about advanced topics in the field of user experience design, and improving my design and user research skills through coursework assigned throughout the duration of the program.