For fifteen years, I served as the resident graphic designer in the corporate headquarters for a large, national health care company based in San Francisco. I also supported the company’s corporate communications and marketing function throughout the enterprise as a writer, editor, and project manager. I enjoyed the work and the people I’ve been fortunate to work with, but I’ve always regretted never completing an undergraduate degree. Last fall I left my day job and became a forty-three-year-old junior at the University of California, Berkeley, with long-term academic goal of obtaining a PhD in History. I’m embarking on a happy life as a full-time student and part-time designer and writer. As a designer, I’m particularly skilled at articulating a distinct brand architecture for the day-to-day operations of a complex company. For example, a couple of years ago my former employer changed its name and created a new, enterprise-wide brand in order to grow the company. I helped dozens of communications and marketing staff at hundreds of facilities and service lines to convert absolutely every visual element in use—from business cards and forms to signage and banner ads—to the new brand architecture. I also have considerable skills working with and presenting data. I designed a new way of visually displaying clinical quality metrics using concentric circles. This dashboard enables clinical staff to see, at a glance, their quality performance scores, and it is currently in use at all nursing units at my former employer’s hospitals. I’m also adept at PowerPoint design, working closely with text on logos and signage, creating ads and print materials, and detailed production work.