Julia Bodnaruk

Where are you from and/or where are you based as a Memorisely student?

I am originally from the Midwest in the USA — I've lived in Minnesota and Chicago most of my life; but, I am currently in London, United Kingdom!

Here's a snap of London, United Kingdom 👇

Chicago, Illinois USA 👇

Minneapolis, Minnesota USA 👇

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Which Bootcamp did you choose to enroll in, and why?

I did the UX/UI Bootcamp because I was looking to make the switch from Graphic to Product Design and Memorisely was the perfect fit.

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What inspired you to pursue UX/UI and become a designer?

I love being able to create a vision that someone has, it's very rewarding and UX/UI helps users as well. It's the perfect duo I can create something amazing and also help solve a problem.

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What's it like to be a student in Memorisely's virtual classroom?

It's amazing, it felt like a small little family. It was so nice seeing everyone bright and early on Tuesday morning. Everyone was so helpful and friendly, and I'm still in contact with some of my class mates.

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What has been your favorite part of Bootcamp so far? What's one learning that has surprised you in Bootcamp?

My favorite part of the Bootcamp was the breakout Zoom projects. It was nice getting to know my classmates on a more personal level in small groups.

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What is the biggest challenge you face learning UX/UI Design?

I think the biggest challenge is trying not to doubt myself. It's easy to say "I don't know," "I'm wrong," or "I don't have enough experience to have an opinion." When in reality, you know a lot more than you think. I guess it's similar to imposter syndrome.

What does a typical day look like for you as a student?

At the moment, my life is a little strange. I'm currently in a very small Airbnb in London sharing a room with my sister. It's very crammed, so I try to leave this room as much as possible. I go to a co-working space called LABS in London. It's fantastic, they have 8 floors of areas to work, free coffee/tea and a Gym. I'm only working here for a month until I move into my apartment, then I will be working from home.

I usually wake up at 7:30am, then make my way into the city center. I try to start working at 9am and grab a coffee. I check my emails, tasks for the day and any Slack messages that I might have missed. Since I'm freelancing for a company in the USA the time change is to my advantage and I can get a lot finished before they wake up. I make a to-do list in Notion, pop on a podcast (usually Morbid True Crime) and start working.

I usually have lunch at around 1pm, then I work on a side project that my sister and I are working on called, Julena Travels. We share travel hacks, tips and inspo on social media and I'm currently building a website in Webflow!

After my lunch break, I get back to work and have a tea and that's usually when my coworkers start waking up and assigning me more tasks to do, and any Zoom calls that might be scheduled.

I usually finish work around 5 or 6pm depending. Then, I take the train home, make some dinner and hang with my sister.

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What is your current workspace setup?

My current work set up is my 16" macbook Pro, Skull Candy Bluetooth Headphones, Blue Light Glasses and a cup of tea.

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What are your go-to or "must have" apps?

On my desktop, my go-to apps are Adobe XD, Figma, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop.

For my phone — since moving to London, Google Maps is my best friend. I also use Instagram, TikTok and Airbnb.

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What (digital or physical) product recently blew your socks off?

Recently I found the company, TooGoodToGo. It's an app where you can buy left over food from restaurants for a very cheap price. The only thing is, you never know what you might get. I think its a great alternative instead of wasting food and you can get a cheap dinner!

👉 Join Our Food Waste Movement

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What tunes do you listen to while designing?

For music, I always listen to Discover Weekly or Tropical House on Spotify. I try to break up the day with a podcast in the morning and music in the afternoon. The podcasts I listen to everyday are, Morbid: A True Crime Podcast, The Daily and She's on the Money.

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Share three pieces of advice for fellow and/or future students?

1. Don't be scared! Everyone is in the same boat!
2. Always ask for help if you need it. The teachers, Zander and the Memorisely Community are more than happy to help.
3. Invest in yourself, this bootcamp and community has opened so many doors for me and I'm so proud of myself for enrolling so just sign up you won't regret it!

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