Going back to school part-time while leading product design at Cube gave me a rare dual perspective: I could test theory against practice in real time. The MS in Human-Centered Design filled gaps I didn’t know I had. Alongside it, I completed MIT’s AI Product Development program, joined a Mellon Foundation–funded interdisciplinary project at Pace’s Design Factory, and this semester I’m collaborating on a client project through Aalto University in Finland.