Level 6 shifted everything for me, forcing me to grow under economic and perosnal pressure. The year already started roughly when I was made redundant, which meant I had to pivot immediately into freelance work, pitch to new clients, and build a freelance base from scratch to stay afloat. I also decided to invest in my own gear to make this new phase possible, managing real client deliverables alongside my final university modules.

Compounding this, my mental health was already in a difficult place before losing my job. Managing redundancy on top of that was incredibly heavy, but I did everything I could to show up, process the situation, and navigate this new phase of my life. This period made me think hard about what I actually want out of my career.

Despite how overwhelming the project scope became toward the end due to burnout, I genuinely loved the parts of the work I could focus on. The research phase was a massive highlight for me; I thoroughly enjoyed learning about user psychology, exploring habit-forming frameworks, and understanding UI/UX systems in a much deeper way.

I put a significant amount of effort into mastering new industry-standard software like Blender and FontLab 8 for my 3D assets and custom typography. While I am the first to admit I wasn’t the absolute best at them right out of the gate, I am incredibly proud of the progress I made under the circumstances.

This entire experience has shown me where my true interests lie, and I am genuinely excited to continue learning and applying these tools in a more innovative, experimental way in the future.