S2 Ep 14. Finding New Passion After Teaching: My Mystery Tech Job

A brief reflection on how children and family members perceive the shift from dynamic classroom teaching to the seemingly static world of UX research. What looks like "just clicking all day" to a 13-year-old is actually detective work uncovering patterns in human behavior and advocating for users.

• The visible nature of teaching versus the invisible complexity of UX work
• What my family sees vs what they don't see
• Family members' amusing interpretations of my job 
• Finding meaning in work that appears mysterious from the outside
• Teaching children about UX careers through school career days
• Discovering new passion after leaving the classroom

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Episode Transcript

Announcer (00:01):
Hello teacher friends , welcome to the UX Teacher Prep
Podcast, and I'm your host, zee.
So today's episode is going tobe a little bit silly, but it's
something that I had to do.
So the other day, my13-year-old son walked past my
desk, aka my three-screencommand center, and said Mommy,

(00:22):
you used to be so lit when youwere a teacher.
Now you just sit there clickingall day.
What do you do?
You just sit in front of thecomputer all day.
That's mad boring.
And that was the moment I knewI had to do this episode.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to the UX Teacher PrepPodcast, the ultimate
destination for educators whoaspire to break into the field

(00:44):
of user experience and productdesign.
Your host, z Arnold, a 15-yearteacher turned UX researcher, is
here to guide, coach and mentoryou through every twist and
turn as you make your careertransition into tech.
If you're ready for a moresatisfying career and lifestyle
and you want the balance tounleash your creativity, this
podcast is for you.

(01:04):
Now for the show.

Coach Zee (01:18):
Today is going to be one of those short and sweet
episodes, but I hope you enjoyedas much as I enjoyed creating
it.
For years I taught in aclassroom filled with energy.
Every day I was on my feet,walking, talking, reading,
teaching, redirecting,encouraging, correcting,

(01:39):
surrounded by noise and love andchaos and a bunch of teenagers,
really, and a bunch ofteenagers I remember.
Every summer my own kids usedto come with me to set up my
classroom for the next schoolyear.
They'd see me organizing theroom, putting up bulletin board
backing paper.
They were helping me seteverything up for the new year,
planning senior events and justbeing so excited to dig into
teaching and learning.
I think I was like a superheroin their eyes.

(02:00):
Mommy, the teacher and I hadall the answers.
And now they see me hunchedover a desk, headphones on,
scribbling things on stickynotes, talking to my screen on
Zoom calls and using phraseslike prototype handoff and
usability test.
And now, when questions come up, they say, mommy, you're not a
teacher anymore.
Seriously, kids will be kids,but I think my 20-year-old

(02:23):
understood more of what washappening in terms of what I was
doing.
So I think my 20-year-oldunderstood more of what was
happening in terms of what I wasdoing.
So I have a 20-year-olddaughter, I have a 15-year-old
daughter, I have a 13-year-oldson and I have a five-year-old
daughter.
So different kids havedifferent reactions.
But the smaller ones, theybasically didn't know what was
going on.
So when I made the switch to UXresearch, it wasn't because I
stopped loving teaching.

(02:43):
It was because I wantedsomething new, something that
challenged me in different ways,let me grow and, yes, something
that let me work from home withflexibility for my family.
But trying to explain that tomy kids or to my cousin at
Thanksgiving, phew, not easy.
So here's what my kids see Momsurrounded by three screens, mom

(03:05):
typing notes really fast, momwatching videos of strangers
using prototypes and mom lookingway too serious for no reason.
What they don't see is what Ifeel when I work.
I feel like a detectiveuncovering patterns in human
behavior.
I feel like a translatorbridging the gap between what
people need and what ourproducts offer.
I feel like a translatorbridging the gap between what

(03:26):
people need and what ourproducts offer.
I feel like an advocate forusers, for students, for
accessibility, for educators,for empathy.
And yeah, some of that doeslook like me sitting very still
staring at sticky notes, notgetting my steps, but inside
there's movement, momentum magic.
Explaining UX research to yourfamily is a journey.

(03:48):
My mom still thinks I dosomething with websites.
I think she thinks I'm awebsite designer.
My cousin probably says I workin techie education and one time
I heard my five-year-old say toherself mommy's job is in the
computer and honestly, I get it.
It's not super visual, it's notlike teaching where you can see
kids learning and laughing anddoing things in the classroom,

(04:12):
but I love that it's kind of amystery.
I love that what I do isn'tobvious, because that's kind of
the point.
My job is to look beneath thesurface to notice what others
miss.
So yeah, it might look boringfrom the outside, but it's the
most creatively stimulating workI've ever done.
So to the moms out there withmysterious tech jobs, to the
dads explaining product anddesign systems to confuse

(04:35):
grandparents, to the aunties indata science, the cousins in
cybersecurity and theex-teachers in UX keep doing
your invisible magic.
Our kids might not understand itnow, but they will, and that's
why, every chance I get, I showup at a school career day to
teach middle schoolers and highschoolers about UX, design and
research and maybe one daythey'll have mysterious,

(04:55):
meaningful jobs too.
I used to think teaching wasthe only profession I could be
passionate about and love, butI'm over here, clicking,
listening, learning, and I loveevery second of it.
So thanks for joining me today.
If this episode made you smileor gave you that yes, exactly
feeling, go ahead and share itwith a fellow career shifter or

(05:15):
someone in your life with amystery job.
Until next time, keep doingwhat makes you come alive, even
if the kids think it's boring.

Announcer (05:38):
Do what makes you happy.
Talk soon resources to help youon your tech transition journey
.
Head over to uxteacherprepcom.
Follow us on LinkedIn andInstagram at uxteacherprep for
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Until next time, be well.