All because I said yes to one seemingly inconsequential opportunity

In sophomore year of high school, I first had the idea of starting my own arts publication because I was frustrated that there was no physical method of keeping my artworks present in my life. Once they’d go on exhibit at the annual school show, they’d be stored in a storage closet. In junior year, I assembled a team of likeminded students and together we built a organization dedicated to showcasing student artworks. By the end of my senior year, we were printing hundreds of copies with some ending up in public libraries.

This experience taught me so much about starting an initiative from the ground up, as well as editorial and graphic design. So when I first came to the University of Michigan as an architecture student, I knew I wanted to join a student-run magazine.

Applying to a/squared

I applied to a/squared magazine (or a2, for Ann Arbor) as a design team member in my Freshman year first semester. Mind you, this is a fashion magazine, and I had next to no experience with fashion, but I resonated with their published works, and thought it would be a great challenge to take on.

A few months in, and I realized that this experience was nothing like what I had imagined. The design team had three members aside from the then-chair, and moreover, members weren’t included in the magazine curation process. My work consisted of making graphics for Instagram posts, and nothing more. Needless to say, I was left deeply unsatisfied as someone who applied and interviewed for the sake of editorial design.

With previous experience, ambitious opinions, and a list of “things we could improve on as a club”, I was soon selected as the new design chair in my Freshman year second semester.

Becoming design chair as a Freshman

High school leadership experiences really came in handy when I joined board, but there was still nervousness at the start. I had to recruit and interview new design team candidates and serve as chair to designers who were older than me. I found the best method was to be patient, attentive, and communicative. Throughout my two semesters as design chair, I learned an incredible amount from my team, which I had expanded to 9 members by the time I became president.

It brings me infinite joy when my team submits their first drafts for magazine spreads and Instagram graphics. That first moment of seeing how they interpret a certain project is always exciting to me. As we go through rounds of drafts, I offer feedback, and then send the final version to print. The happiness and pride on everyone’s faces at the launch party always ignites my heart.

If at first I had doubts about my ability to do well in a board position as a Freshman, a/squared, by seeing my potential and trusting me with a platform, showed me that anything is possible if you keep your sight fixed on the challenges, and the purpose of why you create.

What I accomplished as design chair

As design chair, I redefined recruitment criteria for designers to include non-design majors. Today, we have competent members studying communications, medicine, architecture, and more. I trail-blazed a magazine pipeline that involves all members, and not just the chair. During my time as chair and in junction with marketing team and my members efforts, our Instagram content saw over 1.5 million views over the course of one semester, with posts consistently hitting the 100k+ views benchmark. We hit 2k followers and are now steadily approaching 3k. I pioneered our first merch line, solo’d the branding redesign in 2025, and designed and shipped the website with the events chair at the time.

The problems I wanted to solve

At the end of my Sophomore year first semester, I had a clear understanding of what weaknesses we had as an organization having served on board for two semesters. One of the biggest things I wanted to improve was the dynamic between designers and photoshoot directors. We had friction throughout the team when it came to balancing the creative vision of shoot directors and photographers, and that of the designers assigned to curate their magazine spreads. Back-and-fourth feedback sessions would become a toil for both teams, especially designers as the iteration process often left them very little time to make edits before final deadlines.

My members reflected it, and I also felt the stress — as I also partook in designing spreads and covers. My team had formed a strong bond by then, and they had a lot of trust in me. I knew then that I needed to make some systemic changes to the way we approached cross-team communication as a creative org. Everyone had their own creative direction and vision, united under a/squared’s inclusive branding. The diversity was the beauty and appeal of a/squared, but also a challenge we had to account for: how to convey members’ individuality while keeping the design coherent.

At the time I debated going inactive because I was dealing with a career switch, a maximum course load, two other leadership positions, and pivoting to new clubs I joined. a/squared board was like running a small company — I spent on average 8 hours per week beyond mass meetings, team meetings, board meetings, and events. Most of the time was spent on board communication, design team feedback, and my own design assignments.

Me, being a great deal too ignorant of my own health and time commitment, stepped up to presidency.

Lessons from being president

In retrospect, I realize that being president required a very different operational process compared to being design chair. The ability to call the shots, to consider the state of the club from all teams’ lenses, to be more present than ever, and to be okay with hard conversations. These were some of the biggest things I learned to embrace. Nonetheless, all the difficulty was worth it knowing that many members love a/squared, and that my effort supports creative communities and original work in a meaningful way. This has been the goal since day 1, since high school. Although I’ve now graduated to the position of senior advisor, albeit only a sophomore by age, I will bring this perspective to all my future endeavors.