Eliza Wastcoat '20 | Adobe Major | Marketing
Minor | International Relations
I completed my LSV++ experience at the Adobe HQ in San Jose. I came in with the aim of learning more about working for a software company and to soak up as much of the atmosphere as I could within three short days. On my first day, I spent the morning learning about the company structure and what a typical day looked like for my Host, Nadine Elsayed. In the afternoon, I was paired with Cass Taylor, a Creative Director at Adobe. Cass spent four hours of his afternoon just talking to me, getting to know what I like, and showing me his work (which by the way, were the best slide show presentations I have ever seen in my life). In such a short period of time, we had a real connection and enjoyed bouncing ideas off one another. Through our conversation, we ended up coming up with a new idea which I decided I would develop further as a part of my short project at Adobe.
Looking back on this, my conversation with Cass, although unstructured, allowed me to learn so much about the culture at Adobe. It reminded me of the design thinking process and the importance of talking to your customer to learn more about them and their needs. Being an outsider, I was able to bring some new ideas to the conversation by asking questions and trying to find out more about what could be next for Adobe. I am so humbled that Cass and Nadine spent so much time getting to know me and valued the ideas that I was able to contribute.
Although clearly not a start-up anymore, I was surprised at the number of people willing to spend time getting to know me and to help find where I could fit in at Adobe. Ann Lewnes, CMO and former Lehigh grad, even gave us 30 minutes of her time to hear about our projects and compare Lehigh experiences together. The three days were a true whirlwind, going beyond any hope or expectation I had for the program. The power of the Lehigh network is visible, even out in California. It has opened my eyes to whole new host of possibilities. I am so excited to see what comes of it.