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October Update: back in Chicago!
Hey all,
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So I'm back in Chicago this round until late December/January! Lots of things going on, so I've divided it into 3 parts.
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WORK
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LIFE
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LEARNING
1. WORK: Earlier in September towards the end of our meetup, we had to distill a statement about what would make our year a success. I said that this year will be a success if I learn how to not only develop and execute my ideas, but communicate them in ways that others can understand. This stems from the realization that there is a lot of good content, designs, and ideas already out there, but they're oftentimes just not communicated effectively to the right people. I know this is one of my weaknesses.
So I'm currently working at a Doejo, a digital design and creative firm in the Lakeview area. It's a cool loft office space in the Lakeview neighborhood. Company culture is fairly casual , and I'd say that 95% of the office has either has beards, glasses, tattoos, or some combination of the above. I wasn't sure how to fit in at first given the lack of my ability to grow facial hair, but turns out quite a few people in the office are into the same nerdy things (comic books, Star Wars, and Dr Who), so we get along fine.
Right now I've chosen to be on the operations and project management team (with occasional design snuck in). It's said that managing designers is like herding cats. I've been the "cat", so this is my opportunity to be on the other side, negotiating between the internal team of designers and engineers AND the clients. It is completely new, occasionally stressful, and definitely pushing my comfort zone. I'm pretty sure I sounded like a broken record in the first client meeting I had to lead. Practice, practice, practice.
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Have I mentioned how much I love this skyline? Yep.
2. LIFE: So I've been having fun too! Just a couple highlights from October of the things I've been doing in my free time...
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Not pictured: getting blown over by the wind.
3. LEARNING: Feeling like a socially awkward penguin when talking to people I don't know, especially in client and team meetings. Scrambling to find short-term housing. cold. Fitting into a new workplace and navigating those responsibilities. Walking around and biking in the 25 degree weather (it just snowed today). Just learning the rhythm of a new city in general. COLD.
We've also had to do short monthly blog posts for the Ei community on what we've been learning. My November post, Level Up, uses the video game analogy (please forgive me).
Other news: We just landed a partnership with Stanford's d.school! Victor's currently running an cohort of students in a class called "@Stanford". It's been super exciting to hear about (even with my Bears pride), and there will be more updates in the coming months. You can check out on the Ei blog here.
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If only I could stock up and take it with me...
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November Goals:
-Being more proactive/less timid at work
-Be on time with the next newsletter!
-Finding a piano somewhere in this city...
-Auditioning for Star Wars VII at the open casting call here in Chicago. I can look "17-18" and "multi-racial"! (joking...maybe)
Thank you again for reading! I do read all of your replies, even if I've been horrible at emailing back. If you did give me your mailing address, you will get something in the mail this year. I'm sending out the first batch of postcards this week!
Cheers,
-April
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I gave into peer pressure and got an Instagram account, where I post the occasional sketch, stress baking result, or morning bike ride photo.
If you'd like to check out snippets of what my Ei classmates have been up to, check out the tagboard or the links at the bottom!
Missed my September newsletter? Read it here!
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