This February, a group of DLN Members traveled to Mississippi State University to take part in a career workshop put on by the Design Leadership Foundation. Here, Rodrigo Albir of Studio RODA reflects on the experience.
By Rodrigo Albir, DLN Member
While I was attending the DLN Mexico summit, two factors made me want to participate in the MSU trip. The first was listening to Elvis and Tyler’s eloquent speeches discussing their drive and passion for design. Their words took me back to my days in design school and made me reminisce of the excitement felt while being in school and having made the decision to follow a new path and begin a creative career. The second was that by pure luck, at the DLA gala dinner, I was sitting next to Nick McWhirter from SHM Architects, who was already a member of the DLF. We had a wonderful and engaging conversation about the Design Leadership Foundation and the work it has done at MSU, and by the end of the dinner, I had committed to the trip for February!
What I found highly inspiring when interacting with the students was the genuine passion for design and the desire to absorb as much information about design as possible. As professionals, we sometimes get so caught up in the exercises of running a design business that we may need a reminder to prioritize continuing our design learning. As a personal motto and in the studio, I always empathize to remain curious and explore new ideas or elements that force you out of the comfort zone; being with the students at MSU reminded me how important it is never to stop learning or think you know it all, there are always new things to learn from!
Stepping out into the professional world is exciting and daunting, and I remember jumping headfirst without interacting with seasoned design professionals. After hitting several pitfalls and making mistakes, I was able to pick myself up and learn from the experiences, both positive and negative. Still, after interacting with the students at MSU, I realized how important it is for students to seek out design professionals who can share their experiences and journey to make it seem less scary. As a takeaway, I experienced how a well-rounded mentorship student program will help students push aside the nervous jitters of stepping into the professional world and provide them confidence by giving them a snapshot of what to expect and some tips on handling complicated professional situations.
I hope that sharing my experiences with the upcoming new class of design professionals will help them become better-prepared, well-rounded individuals; at the same time, sharing my professional journey with the students became a therapeutic exercise of looking back on my journey and analyzing the positive and negative elements and how they have influenced me to be the professional I am today all while strengthening my motto: Remain curious!