Ever since I was little, I have always found myself viewing experiences through other people’s perspectives, envisioning what they would want, need, or feel. I would spend hours filling my notebook with different personas, each with their own traits and needs, unaware that this was my earliest form of design thinking. I would imagine their lives and how they would think, creating alternative experiences that I deemed essential for their daily challenges. What started as a daydreaming hobby culminated in my passion for human-centered design. 

As I grew older, my curiosity evolved into a deeper interest in understanding human behavior, which led me to pursue a major in Cognitive Science. Throughout high school and the first two years of college, I initially thought neuropsychology was my directed path. I was drawn to understanding cognitive processes and why people think/act the way they do. Ultimately, it was not until I took a course in Design & Innovation at Cornell that I realized that design offered me a way to apply what I love about psychology, not just to study how people think, but an outlet to design systems and products that respond to everyday thoughts and behaviors.

This discovery felt like finding the missing link between creativity and logic. It allowed me to merge analytical insight with artistic intuition, to turn empathy and perception into tangible products that bring beauty to people’s lives.