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As a product designer, my goal is to design solutions that are effective and impactful for all users. Many of these users, often coming from very different backgrounds than I — different cultures, countries, etc. Being able to immerse myself in various cultures and countries during my semester abroad has helped tremendously to humanize the user in my mind when designing any kind of solution in my career.

During my abroad experience, I learned how to be resourceful and flexible. Traveling is full of unexpected difficulties and finding solutions to those problems isn’t always easy. However, after making multiple trips things begin to get easier as you learn more each time. While I’m not doing as much traveling now as I did abroad, I have still been able to think quickly and creatively to fix problems that I encounter on a daily basis.

Note from the CIE: Paul was featured by The College Today upon winning an international design competition. See the article and video here!