I was born and raised in Harpurhey, Manchester, which anyone who’s lived there will know it’s a little on the rough side. Growing up there in the late 80’s and 90’s, I was part of the only Chinese family in the neighbourhood. As you can imagine, it was a little difficult standing out - so doing what most teenagers do - I tried to fit in. And so I began my ‘chav’ phase. I got into trouble often - both in and out of school. I had quite a bad high school experience that almost resulted in me being excluded - a fate that I almost suffered again when I reached college. I can recall my mum saying to me “you’re going to end up in jail, you’re the dumbest one out of the family”. She also didn’t think I’d gain anything from studying Art, which was the only thing I could study having left high school with no GCSEs “Drawing will lead to nothing - you’re a studying ‘dead book’ (which in Chinese relates to wasting one’s time). My mum was right - I’d caused nothing but trouble and she was constantly having to deal with me getting into messes. But she was wrong about one thing - art turned out to be my saviour. I wanted to make my mum proud and change my life around, and I managed to make a fresh start in my second year of college when I met my future Graphic Design teacher. He encouraged me to change my focus from Fine Art to Graphic Design, and that forever changed me. I never looked back. I passed college, got into university and graduated. I landed my first job at McDonalds at their HQ as a designer. Today, I can now say I’ve achieved one of my greatest ambitions as a keynote speaker. I was appointed to be a keynote at the UX Crunch event discussing what I’m passionate about - User Experience and User Interface. I’m forever grateful to my teacher and my mum, and I can truly feel proud about where I am now. I’m especially proud of how I turned my life around. What I am trying to say is, work hard and even harder. Your life is your choice, the world is your oyster. . . . . #uxer23 #dribbble #dribbblers #uidesign #keynotespeaker #ux #ui #behance #uxdesign #uxdesigner #productdesign #digital #life #ambition #presentation #userexperience #love #storytime #storytelling #dope (at Manchester, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvEdkL-HjXB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1nkmvkt65yv2f
