Angela Kim (12) owns a large, black, bound sketchbook filled with everything from calligraphy practice to logo design drafts. She flips through it carefully, pausing at certain designs longer than others and explaining their purpose and development as she goes.

“I usually draw [designs] out on paper first by hand usually in pencil a couple times,” she said. “The final one I trace in pen and then I scan it onto the computer, and then I use vectors to get the final design.”

Her main focus is graphic design, accomplished on her computer via Photoshop, where she’s created everything from potential class t-shirt designs and posters to logos for school clubs.

“I’ve become known among my friends as the go-to person if you want to get a t-shirt or a logo or poster design,” Angela said. “I taught myself Photoshop a couple years ago, and I’ve just been teaching myself and following the works of professional designers and learning from them.”

Her interest in graphic design began after her older brother began a startup and blossomed as she started exploring the breadth of the field in her own work.

“Back then, I didn’t really know anything about graphic design, but I’d done art in the studio since I was really little, so I had that artistic eye to help give him feedback,” she said. “Then, while I was working with him, that’s when I started getting interested in graphic design and also UI design, which is user [interface]. From there, I tried to learn what graphic design is really like and it just got me really interested. I joined a studio that specializes in graphic design specifically.”

She doesn’t have trouble maneuvering around Photoshop and considers the application well-suited to her specific interests.

“At first, I thought Photoshop was super complicated but when taught myself I was like ‘oh, this is pretty cool,’ and I think it’s the perfect medium for me because I get lots of ideas that just pop into my head, and in Photoshop I can make them into an actual work,” she said.

As for whether she wants to pursue graphic design as a major or career in the future, Angela is still torn, given her interest in engineering and medicine.

“Right now, I have three options that I’m really strongly considering, but they’re all so different from each other, like one is becoming a doctor and that’s something I’ve wanted since I was little and something that my parents want, and the other is becoming a software engineer, which is what my brother is doing, and I think that what he’s doing is very cool, but then I also want to become a professional graphic designer,” she said. “I’m worried that if I go one way, I’ll regret not choosing the others, and it’s a lot to think about.”

Angela’s advice for students who face the same decision as her is a wisdom she herself has heard from others.

“Do what you love, and love what you do,” she said. “I think that’s really important for everything you do in life because if you don’t like what you’re doing, then really, what’s the point?”

When Angela’s not working on her graphic design, she also enjoys reading, watching musicals and spending time with her friends.

“I have a very close group of friends that I stay with pretty much all the time, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything, being an introvert,” she said. “Back in middle school, I used to think I should be more social and have a big group of friends, but in high school, as I matured, I realized I don’t really need that. I’ve got my close friends and they’re very supportive, [and] I’m fine with that.”