10 years since graduating college and 10 important life lessons

A decade older and wiser: life lessons since graduating art school, entering the corporate world, and designing my own path

It has been 10 years since I graduated from Art Center College of Design! The biggest unexpected decision was creating Calligraphy by Michelle T. And along the way, I learned some important life and career lessons from the past ten years.

Believe in yourself

Believe in yourself: let me tell you, during my final term at Art Center, we had to do a portfolio review with our counselor. My counselor’s exact words after my review was: “It’s okay. You’ll be fine.” My interpretation of that based on his tone was: “You’re not the best and probably will never be amazing. But you’ll find work. Just won’t leave anything memorable.” Ouch. As someone about to graduate, that's not what you want to hear. But you know what, I didn’t let those harsh words stop me from being better and striving to be a great designer. And I used to yearn to have my art viewed by the world. And I did get there. Working on movie trailers and television meant some of my work was seen nationally and even globally. But what I love more is seeing how my work made an impact with individuals. Working with wedding couples for their wedding invitations and calligraphy, I get to bring them joy for their special day. Working live calligraphy and engraving events, I get to interact and talk to people: hear their stories, find out who they’re gifting the items to and why, etc. Having Calligraphy by Michelle T gave me the opportunity to connect with people through my art on a personal level.

2. Quickest way to get a raise

The quickest way to get a raise: switch jobs every 2-3 years. I got let go so many times during budget cuts that I learned to never stay loyal to corporate. Then when I would jump hunt, the new roles had salaries that were 40% more than my previous pay. It’s unrealistic to expect employees to stay in the same role for a long time without giving significant raises.

3. About that dream job

Landing your dream job might not be what you expected. Prepare for new dreams or if you’re lucky, your dream job was what you thought it would be.

4. Entrepreneurship

Being an entrepreneur isn’t as scary as I thought it would be. When graduating, I swore off even the idea of being a business owner. I really thought I would be completely happy working in a corporation.

5. Loving your coworkers

Some of the best jobs weren’t about working on the coolest projects but were the ones where I worked with the coolest people. Fullscreen and the boba shop were my favorite past places to work out. Solely based on the friendships and how much fun I had at the time while being there.

6. Red and green flags

Company green flags: diversity, people in all different stages of life, people who help others and other teams, people on parental leave who come in to say hi, providing lunch, dog friendly offices

Company red flag = no diversity (ie: being the ONLY asian woman at a company), never seeing anyone pregnant or starting a family, untrustworthy people, working past midnight and not getting comped days, providing lunch, dog friendly offices

Now about that lunch and dog friendly listed twice. Green flag lunches are the ones that are fun. Everyone is hanging out together and actually having lunch away from your desk. Red flag lunches are the ones that are there to keep you from leaving your desk for work.

Green flag dog friendly offices: to promote a non stressful work environment. Red flag friendly offices: because you’re staying late and if your dog isn’t there, they might starve or have accidents at home. See the difference?

7. You’re never “too old” to start

You’re never “too old” to start something new. Just do it. I felt like I was behind because I graduated college at 24 but it was fine. I didn’t start running half marathons until I was 26. I officially–meaning legally and taking it seriously–began my calligraphy business at 30. All that matters is that you start.

8. On the importance of friendships

Friendships should be treated and nurtured the way we do with romantic friendships. Almost everyone I know has gone through a friendship break up that felt like a romantic relationship. But why is it that we don’t resolve the issue in the same way we do in a romantic relationship?

9. Student loans: RUN!

Student loans: avoid at all cost! While I do not regret my school–higher education has always been important to me–having student loans feels like it set me back by a lot. Full transparency, I graduated with roughly $100k. But it took 9 years post graduation, a refinanced home, and a car accident to pay it off. I don’t believe in having regrets and really value the education I got from Art Center.

10. Do what feeds your soul

And finally, do what feeds your soul. I understand that doing this comes from a place of privilege but you can still squeeze in an hour or two a day to do whatever it is that feeds your soul.