Day 5 #momentumchallenge
What is your Super Power? My superpowers are excerpted from a recommendation letter from my graduate professor to IBM Research in 2000. |
I am a daughter.
Born in Minnesota, with six siblings (three from South Korea), I grew up with strong Midwest values and work ethic. We had a hobby farm, which was our primary food source, tree houses which were our primary imagination source, and a TV that mysteriously broke for 3 years. I am an athlete. I began high jumping in third grade. By high school I was competing in different sports each season (cross country, basketball, track & field). My seriousness and discipline earned me a spot on a division one track team, where I made great strides in the high jump (winning Big Ten's among them). My athletic commitment made way for athletic play when I made it on the American Gladiator Show as a contender. Taking a break from many years of intense competitiveness, I began running marathons. These days I've traded in marathons for yoga and casual running. I am a wife. I met my husband in grad school while training for Grandma's marathon. Long training runs are great for getting to know people! He was getting his PhD in Protein Crystallography & Biochemistry and I was getting my Masters in Architecture. While I still don't entirely understand him when he says things like 'cyclopeptide synthetase' or 'anisotropy', I have great respect and admiration for him. We both like to take on DIY projects - our latest being sheetrocking the garage together... isn't that romantic? I am a mother. Matt and I kicked 2006 off with a baby - while other new years resolutions have faded, Max has been continuously giving us a richness of life other resolutions can't measure up to. With Max, my life and outlook on life is taking a new cycle where my childhood values that were instilled in me by my parents are revisited and executed upon through my own lens. I am fortunate and thankful for the opportunity to be a mother. I am a designer, maker and creator. My formal training in Applied Design and Visual Communication (BS degree) and Architecture (Masters degree) helped me land a career as a product designer working in both research and product delivery. I have extensive experience in software design and delivery, having worked for IBM as a user experience designer for 13 years. I feel that design universally is about process, creativity and somehow making imagination meet up with reality. I am so many things, more than I know. And that is truly exciting! |