What’s on Julia’s mind these days?

I’ve been thinking a lot about what you would do with your life if you knew you could not fail. It’s a fascinating question, because the answer is different for everyone. Some people might pursue their deepest passions without hesitation, while others might prioritize financial security or societal recognition. Does your ideal path align more closely with what you love, or with what gives you the most stable income? When considering what you spend approximately 70% of your time doing, that is, your work or main occupation, it's important to reflect on what really matters most to you. Would removing the fear of failure push you to put in more effort, take risks, and strive for excellence? Or would it remove your drive, knowing success is guaranteed, and cause you to coast along? Ultimately, how we answer these questions can reveal a lot about our motivations, our values, and what we truly want from our lives and careers.

#1: 2025 Cohort Apprentice Program Specific News

• Friday, Oct 17th is Apprentice Office Hours - come say hello!
• Thursday, Oct 23rd is a portfolio workshop led by Laura Cochran, one of our mentors
• Friday, December 12th is our end of year party!

Need an invite? Reach out to Julia at julia@diadesign.io to be added to the guest list.

#2: Apprentice Wins and Celebrations 

• Melody got a job! She is a Quantitative Support Analyst (aka Quantitative UX Research Associate)
• Felisha got a job in March as an Intern at The Borgen Project.

Let’s congratulate them on Discord!

Share: Have any good news, life lessons, or need project help? Reply and let me know. I can share it in our next update.

#3: Job Opportunities

We’re always on the lookout for relevant entry-level roles to share with our apprentices. They’re usually shared on Discord under Discussion > #jobsearch-opps. If you come across any, let us know! We'll be sure to share them here for everyone else.

(short list of opportunities)

• User Experiences (UX) and Content Specialist at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library in Urbana, Illinois
• Product Designer at ClipboardHealth in San Francisco, CA
• Associate Graphic Designer at Vizio in Irvine, CA
• Product Designer at Polygon.io (remote)

#4: Project Announcements

Check out these volunteering resources and find your next gig! We’ll highlight a few organizations in every newsletter where you can look through and find something that interests you.

• Taproot Foundation - https://taprootfoundation.org/volunteers/
• Forgood - https://www.forgood.org/
• Catchafire - https://www.catchafire.org/

Feedback wanted

Open rates are great, click through rates are alright. But how helpful is this newsletter really? Share with us why yet another newsletter was a good idea.

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As always, we’re around to chat. DM us on Discord, reply to this email/post or schedule some time on our calendars: 

• Chat with Grace
• Chat with Julia 

That's all for now!