Letters from the Equator

I can’t believe it’s March. One year ago, I made the decision to move to London and pursue a career in the User Experience field by applying for a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction at UCL. So many things have happened since then.

Settling down in London

LL and I managed to find jobs within a month or so after touching down. That has certainly been a real blessing from God, which we don’t consider to be a coincidence. Firstly, because the recession was starting to build up at that time, and jobs were being cut left and right. The jobs we got were not just timely, but comfortable too.

LL was hired as an office assistant in a small charity firm that help financially challenged people who can’t afford to pay rent, to mitigate the curse of homelessness and joblessness. She has a desk to herself, and enjoys the autonomy and the freedom that’s been given by her employers. Some of the work is challenging, but that keeps her occupied. In the meantime, she invests her time in her newfound knitting hobby, and has enrolled herself in an advanced knitting course at the University of the Arts. She’s intending to take it further.

As for me, I applied for a job on Gumtree (of all places), and shortly received a call from a guy who was interested to take me on as a web developer for a startup he’s building. We hit it off real fast, and it’s been going really great so far. At least, my programming skills won’t get rusty, and it’ll help put something down on my CV at the end of the day.

The jobs paid well enough for us to move into a cosy studio apartment, that had a separate kitchen to prevent the stink from soaking into the bedsheets in the next room. It’s undoubtedly small, but for the two of us – it’s okay. We spend the remaining on dining out on good grub, as most Malaysians do.

UCLIC

I can’t explain how in love I am being in school, learning all that I am learning about design, user experience, applied psychology, and interactions.

£16,870 is a hard number to swallow, especially when a lot of it’s on loan at a time like this. But that’s what it costs to get into the MSc program at UCLIC. I could’ve gone to City and paid a whole lot less… but I really won’t know what I’d be missing if I did. And I hate that thought. I’m so thankful for the friends, the experiences, the opportunities – that this program has had to offer so far.

A few weeks ago, I received confirmation that I would be working with Microsoft Research Cambridge, and some really established researchers in the field. I even got my wish to do an ethnographic study, because I really wanted the experience of working with real users, in the style of anthropologists – if just a taste.

Graduate school has evolved over the years to cater for the working class. And I think it’s reach a point where there’s a good balance between industry and academia, at least from the perspective I’m observing here.

I get to leverage on my expertise and maturity from work, and this bodes well with my lecturers and classmates. Classes now involve a lot of groupwork, and are no longer the stuffy image of butt cramping lecturers hour after hour. We’re graded on insight, not output. And we get to converse with folks from industry, thanks to the connections the lecturers have built with practitioners over the years.

Leaving Malaysia

I contrast this to my life back home, and it wasn’t too long ago. I don’t think I would have had the same opportunities, had I not left. Even if the opportunities were available, it would have been a constant battle. At least, not for UX practioners.

I never told this to a lot of people, but I was given an opportunity to interview with DiGi for a usability position, but I had to turn it down because I had already submitted my application to UCLIC. I felt it was unethical to go under the radar for this. Thinking back, I’m not sure if that would be more ideal. Surely, KL does not have the kind of vibrant UX community London does (and I dare to debate with anyone on this). It also doesn’t have the kind of culture that’s open to UX paradigms… at least, not yet.

Looking ahead, in a few month’s time, my mind will be preoccupied with my dissertation, job applications, and who knows what else. Sometimes, paralyzed out of anxiety, I’m unable to do anything but stay in bed longer. On other days, I’m so inspired I can’t help but immerse myself in literature and interact with the community around me.

This post is a receipt of what can happen in a year.

So much to learn, and so much to live for.