I majored in Political Science during undergrad in Korea—a field that might seem worlds apart from the industry I’m in now. Apparently, I wasn’t someone ambitious about passing the bar exam, but if anyone asks, my time as a political science major, full of endless reading, discussions, and writing, shaped me into a thinker. It taught me to view things critically and consciously, to ask the "why" until it made sense.

However, I didn’t fully appreciate the value of this mindset until I landed my first job on the Platform Business Team at LG Corporation. As a generalist and a junior member, I wore many hats: market researcher, product designer, business strategist, and even product marketer. Back then, I didn’t have the vocabulary to describe what I was doing—partly because the company didn’t have a formal UX team at the beginning of the project. Yet, even in this ambiguous role, I knew one thing for certain: I loved the work. Listening to customers, designing solutions to meet their needs, and testing my ideas—it all just made sense to me. Even if I didn’t know exactly what to call my title, I knew what I was doing.

My four years as a product designer at a resource-constrained, low-UX-awareness environment were mostly self-taught and trailblazing with constant persuasion. It was a challenging journey—I often wished for a senior to pass down legacy documents or guide me through the process. But looking back, learning on my own and with my fellow team members meant everything I was doing was truly making sense to me.

And for the things that still don’t make sense, I’m learning them now as a graduate student in the University of Washington’s HCDE program, preparing myself for what’s next.