As a child of immigrant parents, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that I grew up thinking I had to become a doctor or lawyer. But the truth is, my parents never told me I had to be anything in particular.

I applied to every college undeclared. At Berkeley, I took a bunch of general education classes, trying to figure out what to major in. I tried economics—whatever the professor was saying sounded like an alien language. Computer programming? That was literally a different language I'd have to learn. And I’m not even sure why I took a math class, but I remember getting a C.

What I really wanted was to take visual arts classes. But you know who talked me out of anything having to do with art? Me.

Somehow, I landed on what I thought was a great compromise: Architecture.
Part creative, part technical. And most importantly, a field with actual job opportunities.

But not everyone was on board with my decision. Surprisingly, it wasn’t my parents who objected—it was two older second cousins who were already working as architects. One of them even flew out to try and convince me over dinner to pick something else. (I still went through with it and worked as an architect for 13 years, but that’s a story for another time.)

Majoring in architecture allowed me to spend time making art. I even got to learn 3D animation. (Also another story for another time.)

This week, I’m wrapping up my art journey video series with a look at the artwork I created at Berkeley - a time when I was pushing my creative limits and learning to see and think about space in a whole new way.

🎨 Watch the video here:

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Thank you for letting me share this series with you!
Susan