Yu Shi

My name is Yu Shi (石宇), I am from China, and I am also a 2016 graduate from MSU's Industrial Design program.

I was very surprised to hear the news that the Industrial Design major is about to be cancelled. Although the scale of this major is not large, she’s always like a mother to me and all other graduates, and we never worried about her future, because she is the one who brought together a group of young people who are curious and passionate about design but know almost nothing about it, then pointed us the direction of our future so we can have the confidence to face our lives after four years of study, which is exactly the meaning of a university's existence, in my opinion, isn't it?

There is a saying in China: "Men fear entering the wrong profession, and women fear marrying the wrong man." I once obtained a bachelor's degree in economics in China, and then realized that I didn’t have enough skills to get a decent job after I left school. 15 years have passed, and I still remember very clearly that feeling of helplessness and lack of confidence. Later, I worked in sales for two years and found that my colleagues didn't really care about the quality of the products they sold, but how to deceive people's money with tricks while avoiding the real issues. At the same time, buyers were constantly complaining about how bad the products were.

It was two of my design colleagues who told me about what industrial design is, and I was greatly inspired because I felt that I had found a way to change everything from the source: to make better products with better design.

It solves two problems: 1. Sellers will be happier because they no longer need to deceive people with guilty conscience - most of the time they just need to tell the truth. 2. Buyers will be happier because their money will be exchanged for better products, and good products can improve people's lives rather than cause trouble. That's when I decided to learn industrial design.

At that time, there were many schools with industrial design majors, but my TOEFL writing score did not leave me many choices, even though I have always been confident in my listening, speaking, and drawing skills. I still remember that morning I received the offer from MSU, and the following four years were like a dream. I was able to learn and train my design skills step by step under the professional guidance of Professor Feigler and his team, stay up all night with a group of people in the big classroom and try to catch up on progress. Not a single semester was easy, but I enjoyed it a lot because I could literally see me getting better and better with my own eyes.

Now I am a senior industrial designer, and I have designed many vacuum cleaners, sweeping robots, and commercial robots sold in many countries including the United States, which has also allowed me to have a family and live a decent life. Facing the future, I have many ideas. Although there are many obstacles, I am very confident in my abilities and potential.

I'm here to thank you for taking the time to read my story, because none of this would be possible without MSU's ID major. I sincerely hope that people can have a clearer understanding of the importance of this major, not only for MSU but also for younger generations who are curious and longing for design, just like us back then.