"What I cannot do does not exist"

The story of how I transitioned from a Bachelor's in Political Science to UI/UX Design

In 2023, I felt stuck-trapped in a silent panic that no one else could hear. 'What am I doing?' 'Where am I going?' I often asked myself.  I had just finished my first degree in Political Science,  and worked a year in Ghana's parliament but deep down, I knew I wasn’t meant to follow the predictable path laid out in front of me. I craved something different, something that didn’t yet have a name. I just knew I wanted more.

Then, one random day, I saw a post that hit me like a punch to the gut:

“Don’t be that person that looks like they’re making moves but in reality, they have nothing going on.”

It stung so much. Because it was true.

I was busy, but I wasn’t building. I was moving, but not in any particular direction. It felt like that post was calling me out. And in that moment, something shifted. I made a decision. No grand plan. No perfect blueprint. Just this: I wanted to grow. No matter what it took.

That week, I told a friend about it. He was into tech. He was very receptive and I'll forever be grateful to him for that. We talked about it for a bit and he was willing to help me. 

That night he sent me a link. Just a link. “Check out the lessons on Figma's site”, he said.

I clicked.

That single click opened a world I never knew I needed.

Figma didn’t just teach me design, it revealed a passion I didn't know I had. I didn’t enroll in a fancy bootcamp. I didn’t binge youtube tutorials. I went straight to Figma.com, read the design lessons they had for beginners, and started doing the exercises like my life depended on it. Because honestly? It kind of did.

I taught myself most thingsfrom scratch. No mentors(even though I later met a few). No step-by-step guides. Just me, my laptop, and the will to figure things out. And something wild started to happen:

I began to fall in love with design.

It was hard-sometimes painfully so. I’d sit up at 2AM, fighting with autolayout, wondering if I was crazy for trying to start over. But each time I got something to work, each layout that finally clicked, each frame that made sense-I had a feeling I couldn't explain. And slowly, that good feeling became momentum.

By the end of the year, I had done something I once thought impossible: I built a website from scratch for my own business. Me, the same person who once stared at a blank screen, uncertain,wondering what could come out of this, was now creating. Designing. Launching. Becoming.

Then came the moment that sealed it:

I got into Drexel’s Master’s program in Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience.

No design degree. Zero years of experience. Just passion, self-taught skill, and proof of my work. That was the moment everything I had done-the hours, the late nights, the projects I built from pure drive-validated itself.

Figma wasn’t just a tool. It was my first mentor, my playground, and my proving ground. I later got lost in the world of tutorials on the Figma for Education page. 

It’s the reason I found this version of myself-the version that dares, that executes, that dreams out loud. Figma gave me the freedom to learn by doing. And in doing, I became.

Now, when people ask me how I made the switch from political science to product design, I tell them this:

I didn’t switch. I woke up.

And I’ve been moving forward-intentionally, relentlessly-ever since.

What I can’t do?

Doesn’t exist.

I’ve already done what I once believed was impossible. And I’m only getting started.

As I move forward, I carry with me the knowledge that the world is full of endless opportunities waiting to be seized. And though I may encounter some challenges and setbacks, I approach each obstacle with the unwavering belief that with dedication, determination, and a willingness to learn, anything is possible.

29th May, 2024