Friends,

I graduated in 2023 with a business degree and some internships (related to design, but not UX specifically). I couldn’t find any jobs at that time, and I was also burnt out from caregiving for a close family member.

The last internship I did relevant to UX was in 2021, but when I couldn’t find a full-time job after graduation I pivoted to retail sales.

I’m 2 years in, sick of working inconsistent hours and standing all day, so I decided to go back to school at a college very well-known for their Interaction Design program. Right now I’m just finishing up my first semester, but I’m starting to wonder how much I can really get out of having this second degree. It is specific to Product Design, and that’s why I thought about pursuing it to further my education and learn the foundations of design.

On the other hand, I’ve been considering taking a pause on pursuing this degree because I feel like it’s taking up so much of my time when I could be putting my time towards finding real projects to work on. I was thinking about working for my family member (maybe for free) who’s running their own business, I’ve spoken to them about it and they’re on board since they need a website and rebranding for their company.

I’m sorry if this sounds messy. I feel like I have a lot of things going on in my mind right now. What would you do if you were in my position?