In many ways, Cunningham has already been living the philosophy behind her career prototype.
Her path has moved through swimwear, packaging, medical devices, consumer products, corporate innovation, teaching, consulting and now experience design.
Each opportunity has helped her test a different version of what a design career could look like.
And she’s not finished experimenting.
“College grads are entering a professional world that looks much different than it did at the start of their college career,” Bradley says. “Realistically, that’s only going to accelerate moving forward. Programs like NIS empower students to take control of their future by creating what’s next instead of chasing it. That ability and mindset will be a key differentiator for the future of higher education and the value of a university degree.”
Cunningham is currently back in the Bay Area, balancing personal projects, networking and preparation for life after graduation. Through an experiential education project, she is developing furniture inspired by the city where she plans to relocate while continuing to build relationships with design studios.
Her desire is for the next prototype to become a permanent move.
“I hope to find a role that makes sense for me in the Bay Area, working on the cutting edge of innovation design,” she notes.
Her path spans UC’s academic, experiential and innovation programs. UC’s nationally recognized cooperative education program, with more than 1,700 employer partnerships, placed her inside professional design environments at FINIS and Procter & Gamble, where she put classroom knowledge into practice.
DAAP gave her the foundation of an industrial designer, with hands-on experience across multiple industries. NEXT Innovation Scholars expanded upon that baseline, giving her experience in problem-solving, strategic foresight, multidisciplinary collaboration and facilitation.
Together, those experiences have helped Cunningham navigate from asking what a designer can make to asking what a designer can make possible.
That may be the most important lesson of her career prototype.
“Trust the process,” Cunningham advises, when asked what she would tell herself at the beginning of her NIS experience.
And for students who may be intimidated by NEXT Innovation Scholars or unsure whether they’re ready to apply, her advice is simple:
“When in doubt, just give it a shot.”
“NIS completely changed what I thought my career was going to be,” she says. “These are things that don’t magically come up unless you really put the intention toward it, and NIS is a program that is consistently pushing what students are capable of.”
For Cunningham, the next stage is still being designed.
But that is precisely the point.
A career, like any good design, does not have to be finished before you begin.