Arra’s STEM journey started somewhere you might not expect: watching Japanese cartoons! As a child, she loved anime so much that she decided she wanted to become an animator. She taught herself to draw and dreamed of working in the animation industry.
The trouble was, there were no animation courses near where she lived. Her mum hoped she might become an accountant instead, but Arra knew that wasn’t right for her either. Then, just in time, a local university announced a brand-new course: Digital Illustration and Animation, as part of their computer studies programme. Arra signed up immediately.
“If you love drawing, gaming, films, or animation, those passions can lead to careers in technology too - careers that didn’t even exist when you were born!”
Since graduating, Arra has worked in all sorts of exciting jobs - as a graphic designer creating logos, a motion designer making animated adverts, a 3D artist building digital models, and a multimedia designer working across science and technology companies, advertising agencies, tech startups, and online shopping businesses. One of her proudest achievements was being part of a team that won a national award for a short animated film, and later, designing and launching an entire app and brand all by herself.
Along the way, Arra has faced setbacks - disagreements at work, projects that didn’t go as planned, and even being let go from a job unexpectedly. At first, she took these things very personally and found them tough to deal with. Over time, she learned to be kinder to herself, stay positive, and remember that difficult moments always pass.