Sometimes the encouragement we need most is to be told that something we never considered for ourselves is well within our reach.
This was Hannah Oostdyk’s experience. After working in customer service since high school, she transitioned into healthcare as a behavior technician but couldn’t see herself in the role long-term. “I don’t really think I had much of a high hope outside of the field,” she says. Hannah wanted to apply her talents and interests in a career but didn’t know where to start.
That’s when she found Step Year, WMCAT’s college and career exploration program. Hannah entered the experience feeling out of her comfort zone but “open minded,” and quickly found herself loving the self-discovery work, team-building retreat, field trips to area colleges and employers, and one-on-one meetings with program staff.
Hannah and her Step Year peers engage during a site visit to locally based tech firm CARNEVALE, where Hannah was first inspired to pursue a career in UX design.
On a field trip to Grand Rapids-based tech firm CARNEVALE, it all clicked for Hannah. “I’ve always liked tech. I love to play with computers and phones and just figure out what’s wrong with them, but I also have always been very creative,” she says. “If I could blend the two of them together, that would be awesome, and it would fit me perfectly. And that’s exactly what user experience design does.”
Hannah presents the plans she made in Step Year
Step Year helped Hannah make a plan to pursue her newfound “dream job” as a UX designer. “It was a confidence boost,” she says of the encouragement from WMCAT staff. “Someone else believes that I can do it, so I definitely can. Having that support in the back of my head, I can succeed in whatever I do.”
Hannah begins classes at Grand Rapids Community College this fall for an associate’s degree in web/UX development and design. From there, she hopes to begin working in UX design while completing her bachelor’s degree. Hannah plans to stay connected with the people she met at WMCAT — her Step Year cohort and the team at CARNEVALE — who remind her that her goals are in reach.
Learn more at wmcat.org/stepyear.
