I wish I had a story about how I was born to do this—but instead, I have the story of the day I realized I wasn’t.
Chapter 1: The Reality Check
Let’s go back to my first day of design school. The typical icebreaker: “Introduce yourself and tell us why you chose this career.”
One by one, my classmates shared how they’d been the “creative genius” of their families, sketching masterpieces since they were three. They talked about how design was their calling and how they couldn’t see themselves doing anything else.
And then there was me—the girl who decided to study graphic design two weeks before classes started.
If you’d asked my younger self, graphic design wouldn’t have even made the list.
Chapter 2: The Trauma
Growing up, I wasn’t the kid sketching perfect drawings or making flawless DIYs. I was the kid coloring outside the lines, making messy crafts, and abandoning every instruction manual halfway through because I wanted to “do my own thing.”
I spent Saturday mornings glued to Art Attack, crafting things so questionable that my mom had to “blame the rain” for their mysterious disappearances. I bounced from hobby to hobby—dance (either too boring, like ballet, or too wild, like contemporary), photography (ruined by my cringy edits in PicMonkey), videography (attempts at making funny videos that weren’t funny at all), painting (fun, but never quite my thing), and so on.
When it was my turn to speak, I couldn’t fake an epic origin story. So I told the truth: “My name is Aranza, I’m 18, and I decided to study graphic design two weeks ago.” It wasn’t my proudest moment, but it felt honest—and it took some pressure off my shoulders.
If I were a pessimist, my story would’ve ended there. But I’m not, and I love to romanticize even the messiest situations, so let me finish.
Chapter 3: The Delulu Conclusion
That day, I felt really out of place—like I didn’t belong. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place.
But something shifted when I started learning about design.
Over time, I realized that design isn’t just about creating “pretty things.” Good design is about solving problems, paying attention to details, and bringing ideas to life with a unique voice.
Looking back at my younger self, all those hobbies and failed experiments taught me what I value most about creativity today: curiosity, the courage to embrace the process, and the magic of connecting the dots from unexpected places.
And now the story of the day I realized I wasn’t born to do this reminds me of what I truly want to create: work that proves design is so much more than just making things pretty.
So maybe one day, the next girl sitting in my seat doesn’t feel out of place. Maybe she sees herself in the process, just like I did, and realizes creativity was always hers to claim.