From Journalism to Graphic Design

If someone had asked me during my school years whether I would end up working as a graphic designer in the future, I would almost certainly have been left completely blank. When I was a child, like most of my classmates, I dreamed about the typical grown-up professions that students tend to romanticise during those early stages of life: actor, musician, singer, and so on. My story in that regard, however, has been something of an emotional roller coaster. Because even as I entered adolescence, I still had no idea which path I would follow for the rest of my life.

Where It All Began

There is quite a funny story behind how I ended up choosing a degree in Journalism, and I can still remember it rather clearly. It was the summer of 2010 (and suddenly I feel even older than I apparently look). I had just completed a Social Sciences Baccalaureate that hadn’t entirely convinced me, followed by a university entrance exam that I passed without any trouble and with a fairly good score.

At the time, although I wasn’t 100% in love with any particular discipline, I did feel a certain attraction towards History, Audiovisual Communication and Psychology. Curiously enough, however, none of them took first place when the time came to apply to university in my hometown.

Perhaps it was because Journalism was quite a sought-after degree at the time and my admission score was comfortably high enough to get me into it, but I wanted to venture into something different. I had a hunch, and I wanted to put it to the test. If I chose that profession as my first option and ended up being accepted, I would take it as a sign and openly embrace a degree with so many possibilities ahead of me. My prediction came true. The expectations I had placed in it, however, did not.

A Hard Fall and a Great Comeback

After a very strong academic performance throughout both primary and secondary education, completing my first year at university felt like making my way through a forest of thorns. I’m not ashamed to admit that I finished those first two semesters having passed only half of the year’s subjects, and there were more than a few occasions when I wanted to give up after realising that perhaps this simply wasn’t for me.

But maybe out of pride or sheer stubbornness, I promised myself that I would give it a second try rather than giving up on the basis of one disastrous first year. And so, putting everything I had into it, I enrolled in the entirety of the second year alongside everything I still had left from the first.

The result? I managed to achieve what had seemed almost impossible: to successfully get my progress through the degree firmly back on track.

When Everything Fell Into Place

And then came the third year, and with it, the specialised subjects. That was when I began discovering and familiarising myself with design software on my own, including some of the programs I still use today.

That was when I realised my future belonged much more to this other field, and life seemed to prove me right when, for example, I was one of a small group of students exempted from the final exam in one of the design-related subjects because of the quality of my work throughout that semester.

I genuinely had a great time during that now-distant 2012/2013 academic year, learning everything I could on my own simply out of curiosity.

Finding My Own Path

Although my relationship with Journalism has always been one of love and hate, I am genuinely grateful for all the knowledge it has given me and, more than that, for the way it taught me to look at things.

I’m not sure I agree with the typical saying that “everything happens for a reason”. I prefer to think that, one way or another, “our decisions lead us to where we are meant to be”. I have always been curious by nature and deeply committed to doing any job as well as I possibly can. I like telling stories. Perhaps no longer through words, but through visuals capable of speaking for themselves. And I couldn’t be happier to be here today, able to say that.