Reflection!

Throughout capstone, it was a challenging experiment for me to explore a career that I never learned. I've been always interested in Interior Design and I never knew it uses major critical thinking. For example, you are the problem solver to a given issue that a client gives to you. Its very important for Interior Designers to come up with many solutions and try to use their knowledge to create an environment that is safe and suitable. When I spent time with my mentor, I listened and tried to follow each direction's that was giving to me. You always have to be caution and always think ahead. A great example would be, when I had the opportunity to remodel a client's bathroom. We have to use our knowledge and provide her with materials that we knew to help the client decide what type of outlook she wanted. It took us several hours deciding what to keep and what to demolish. In addition, we had to run some errands to get materials and demonstrate different tiles to her. We had to think of idea's and plans of what we can do to achieve the look she wanted. It's very important to know what your client wants so you can start collaborating together. Providing them with great ideas makes the job a lot easier. Critical thinking is very important towards this job because it summarizes the plan that your about to do.

Collaborating is the most exciting task! You get to go through so many color choices and set the mood towards a room. It was difficult at a certain point because we wanted the client to be satisfied with our work. Collaborating with my mentor and her teams made me realize how hard it is to be set with one idea. I personally thought it was going to be easy but, it wasn't. We had to think of color choices, the function of the environment, utilities, the mood, and most importantly the creativity that is going to be made by us. If the client wouldn't agree with our ideas, we would have to think of another different layout. Overall, it uses critical thinking because you have to search and provide the client with varieties of materials for them to choose from. Communicating was a huge role for everyone. As a team, my mentor said it would be nice for everyone to include each ideas that they have. Why? Because everyone has different outlooks on things and not everyone thinks alike. Using your voice to speak up can be important and your feedback always matter. When I first met my mentor, that was a huge problem for me because I was a bit quiet. I didn't step out my comfort zone till the end. (Which I totally regret) I would give feedback's but it was really broad. Towards the end, I communicated to each member of the teams because I learned that you have to be comfortable working with several people, including clients. You have to be confident and contribute all the time to be successful.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is a must when it comes to Interior Designing. Creativity is very important and every project is always going to different from the previous one. When it came to us redesigning the clients bathroom, my mentor taught me how to carefully design a bathroom without going overboard. Color choices, is something that is very important because it surrounds the whole entire room and its sets the mood for a person. My mentor showed me different sketches that had created when she was in college too. She influenced me to start designing my own sketches and built my artistic talent from there. When it comes to creativity; Interior Designers work with clients to develop and create a solution that is safe, functional, attractive and suitable. You have to come up with ideas and plan it out. This task is a bit difficult because it takes time just to get a perfect outlook. Overall, I felt like I overcame different goals that I thought I would never encounter. For example, I never used my artistic goals on drawing different rooms. I learned so many tools that I can use based on the projects that we did. I experienced what it feels like to be in a work field with more than 5 people working all at ones. I felt like it was challenge because I never imagined myself picking up a hammer and demolishing an entire bathroom. It completely took all of my energy at the end of the day but, it was such an amazing experience for me to learn what Interior Designers do. From the beginning, I believe I've learned so much more of what they do and how they manage everything. It was a challenge and a workout for me. Overall, I'm very thankful for them to educate me by doing so many opportunities.