The fact that I’m trying to become a designer was not surprising to me – everything in my life has pointed in this direction. For as long as I can remember I’ve been a maker. As a tiny lad, I was babbling about becoming an architect when I got older, with Legos in one hand and a hammer in the other. Through the years Lego buildings made way for digital alternatives like Minecraft creations, which I traded in due time for my first 3D modelling software: MagicaVoxel – a lightweight zip-based program I could run on just about every school computer in the first years of high-school*. During this time, I created my first ‘graphic designs’ as well – instead of using it for its intended purpose**, Excel sheets coloured in cel by cel to recreate my favourite video game characters seemed to work wonderfully.

At the age of 15, I started looking into art, 3D modelling and printing software. Though my hardware was mostly outdated, I put countless hours into figuring out the intricacies of Windows to optimise what I had, leading to proficiency in English and computer literacy. With a student Solidwork licence, I taught myself more advanced modelling techniques, coming to an apex during my final high school project: the complete modelling of a watch.

I describe all this in detail with simple reasoning: it illustrates the resourcefulness I’ve taught myself and applied in all aspects of my life. Though challenges are plentiful for the eager and curious person I am, the inability in one step of the process has hardly ever stopped me from reaching my goals – I always found a way around it. Be that by learning new skills or by bending the rules, I followed where my enthusiasm led me, which is how I ended up at Industrial Design at the TU/e.