In some ways, Julia Wolinsky has always felt she was better able to express herself through drawings than words. She had this realization at a young age, and it informed her love of art and her choices of education and career.

Art was a way to make sense of the world, and Wolinsky first used that background as a middle school teacher. Then she pivoted to UX design as a way to stay creatively satisfied. She currently uses her experience in both sides of her professional experience as a UCLA Extension instructor.

“Art allowed me the means to have other ways of showing what I was thinking and feeling,” she said. “My love for teaching had always been there, so I knew I had to come back in some way.”

Wolinsky attended UCLA and graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Fine Art in 2007. She became a full-time middle school art teacher and had her first teaching opportunity in New Orleans. Later, she moved to Chicago for a change of pace and continued working in education.

While in Chicago, Wolinsky decided she wanted to be more actively creative in what she did for work. She loved the students she taught, but wanted more hands-on artistic opportunities. She searched for different careers she could transition to and eventually came across UX design, where she could create web tools to make a user’s experience (re: UX) more enjoyable across different online platforms.

“The transition from teaching into UX took a good deal of work,” she said. “I won’t sugarcoat it. I essentially was starting from scratch. I was at the very beginning. I had moments where I wondered if I was doing the right thing. I thought, ‘Is this going to pay off?’”

UX design is what allows users to be satisfied while using an app or device. The glow that circles around a video someone has tapped to watch, or the way icons are placed strategically for easier navigation – it is all thanks to UX design.

“There are things not many people think about when using a T.V. for example.” Wolinsky said. “All of those things are possible because of the people who use their creativity and ideas – how the menu tab looks on a screen when searching for something and how it draws attention immediately.”

UX design was a relatively new field at the time Wolinsky entered it, but her background in art was helpful. She attended a UX training bootcamp, which taught her the basics. During her time at the camp, there was a board where alumni could post job and internship opportunities that helped her find an internship at a startup.

“When I started, I was in my early thirties," she said. “A part of me thought I was too old for internships, but it’s never too late to start. So I applied and to my surprise, I got it. That first chance changed everything and after the internship they liked the work I did and offered me a full time position. ”

Wolinsky next earned a position at Samsung as a junior designer. She was promoted twice before she was referred for a position at Salesforce.

“Salesforce is where I truly fell in love with designing,” she said. “I expressed myself in ways I couldn’t before, poured my attention into my work and was promoted for my work ethic.”

UX design was a steady, stable profession, but Wolinsky did miss teaching. As a UCLA alumna, she was familiar with UCLA Extension, so she reached out to several instructors for advice on how to get hired.

UX design is everywhere in modern life, and Wolinsky is happy to have the opportunity to teach it. She wants to teach her students all the things she wished she knew before entering the UX design profession as well as help people realize different industries they could possibly pivot to. She is teaching two courses this fall. One is called Designing Your Next Chapter: Making the Leap Into UX Design, which is where she will share how she made the transition from teaching to tech. The second class is a bootcamp called Start Your User Experience Design Journey, where she will teach the basic components of user experience and students can start practicing their UX skills.

“Since I work directly in the UX field while instructing, it allows my students the opportunity to learn from someone who has real world experience and can apply it to their questions.” she said.

As technology advances and new devices are created, Wolinsky adjusts her teaching to best prepare what future designers need to know. She is grateful to be back in the classroom.

“I feel like I came full circle. I studied art, became a teacher, implemented my skills into UX and am now an instructor,” she said. “My ideal would be to continue doing different things and see how they come together and help each other out. Teaching has been and always will be a big part of my life and I still enjoy getting to share my experiences with people as well as coach those that are trying to figure out their careers.”