"After wrapping up my internship with Prime Studio in the Winter of 2021, I moved back to Ohio to finish my senior year at the University of Cincinnati. My last semester dedicated to finishing my capstone project flew by fast -- partly because it was my first time being physically in person at school in the past 2 years. I was glad to graduate along with the rest of my Industrial Design class in April 2022!

Over the course of the year I spent working on it, my capstone had progressively become more research-centric than I had originally intended. I enjoyed that aspect of my project so much that I ended up focusing a fair amount of my job searching towards design research positions. I was fortunate enough to sign on with my current agency, Grand Studio, as a research designer just before graduating. After graduation, I wanted to take some time off and travel a bit. I took a 2 month solo trip around Spain, France, and Italy and had the opportunity to see some really beautiful art, make new friends, and eat a lot of gelato.

Once I flew back to Cincinnati at the end of the summer, I packed up and moved to Chicago to start with Grand. Since starting work, the time has flown by - my team has been so welcoming and fun to work with and I’ve been learning a lot about new research methodologies and how to approach complex problems from different angles. Working in research has been challenging in the best ways and I’m excited to keep learning and refining my research skill set. Moving to Chicago has been really exciting as well - it’s such a beautiful city to explore and I feel lucky to have met the friends I have now that make it feel like home.

Being a research designer is not what I imagined myself doing when I first started school, but now that I’m here I can’t imagine doing anything else. Thanks to everyone at Prime for a memorable last internship and happy designing!"