03.18.15

Pauline Cheng: IIDA Student Awards Program Recipient

Pauline Cheng, Project Manager, Design & Construction, Corporate Real Estate Division of Warner Bros.

At this year’s Calibre Awards, we will be celebrating the history, legacy and success of our SoCal Student Awards Program. Pauline Cheng, IIDA Student Awards Program Recipient, tells us in her own words how the Awards program impacted her design career.

When I received the Student Award, I was in the process of changing careers. I originally moved to Los Angeles to attend graduate school in Organizational Psychology. After a few years, I became dissatisfied and started exploring other career options (The term ‘quarter-life crisis’ hadn’t been invented yet, but I was having one!).

When I started studying Interior Design at UCLA Extension, I was working full time, taking design classes at night and spending my weekends doing homework. The Student Award provided the first real validation that my decision to try this new career was a good one. It also provided some breathing room for me financially, which was a huge relief. It took a long time to complete my design education. Receiving the Award was a great motivator to keep on going!

Project by Beckson Design Associates, Los Angeles

The Award also introduced me to IIDA events where I was able to meet people working in the industry. Those connections led to my first internship at a furniture showroom, and eventually to my first design job with Beckson Design Associates.

Today as a Project Manager at Warner Bros., I’m still friends with and work with people I met through IIDA in those early days.

Congratulations to 25 years of the IIDA SoCal Chapter Student Program!

The success of our SoCal Student Awards Program relies on the support of our design community. Join us at this year’s Calibre Awards as we celebrate this program and the people that have made it happen over the years.