I walked onto Stanford campus after my long summer working in the Bay Area. It feels very fresh and reviving to be back as a student. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been cooped up in a cube all summer.

But alas, with a new school comes the usual administrivia. Papers to sign, bills to pay, and photo IDs to obtain.

I hate photo ID pictures. They always catch you off guard. One doesn’t realize the gravity of the situation: this photo will be in your wallet for the next four years, at least. We’re usually pretty selective about what pictures go into our wallets. Carefully, we choose nice looking pictures of our loved ones.

But then, comes the driver’s license picture. The student ID picture. I’m sure all of you have had bad pictures hanging around. It’s mostly because we are caught off guard. These nonchalant pictures are annoying, but not annoying enough to fix (unless you’re real desperate). So there we are, walking around with a picture of ourselves, most likely with an awkward smile, an off-kiltered tilt of the head, and a shirt you wouldn’t be caught dead in.

I’m on a job hunt.. looking for a summer internship (or a part time position throughout the school year). I always feel inadequate when looking at job postings. I don’t have much work experience, or a solid portfolio. This is especially true for the web and graphics design jobs I’m looking at. First, I don’t have a design degree. Secondly, my resume isn’t too art design oriented (hey, I’m an EE!). And finally, I’m going to engineering graduate school. All these points would probably make the recruiter scratch their heads and ask why this person is even trying.

Even though I feel like I’ve had a lot of experience in graphic and web design, there’s not much solid proof of it. What I need is to whip up a portfolio, and fast. On top of this, most of the jobs I’m qualified for are unpaid internships! I’m sorry, but I need to eat somehow during the summer.

I guess it all boils down to my engineering side versus my arts and design side. I’m certain I’ve already chosen the engineering side for the long term, but damn, it would be cool to work as a graphics designer this summer, and maybe throughout my career as a freelancer. Anyone got any suggestions?

Round and round we go. I’m studying for one of my last two finals of my
undergraduate career here at Cornell. I
can’t seem to get my mind wrapped around it at the moment. Thinking about
Tippy and my new life is too distracting. Must.. get.. back to studying
how signals are
modeled!