have done, even before I could name it. I am still at the beginning of my career, but my journey so far has been full of discoveries. It has been a kind of domino effect, where one curiosity led to the next.

I was born and raised in Bulgaria, and for my Bachelor’s degree I studied Portuguese Philology at Sofia University because I wanted to learn a new language and explore another culture. I have always been fascinated by how people communicate. When little, my dream superpower was to speak every language (and it still is), so I could talk to anyone. At the time, I did not know what anthropology was—I did not know anyone who had studied it, and I never realized it could be a career. But through my philology studies, I discovered the discipline, and felt it “click.” When people asked, “What will you do with that?” I believed I would find an answer. Anthropology teaches you to understand people, cultures, systems, and patterns. I knew my learning would eventually help me find my path, even if I did not yet know how.

While pursuing my Master’s degree in anthropology, I worked as an over-the phone interpreter for an agency, primarily handling emergency situations in the U.S. and UK. Every day, I stepped into someone else’s shoes—a patient, a victim, a doctor, a paramedic, a police officer, and many more—and in doing so, I saw firsthand how different systems operated; both supportive and broken. In many ways, I thought of it like fieldwork: entering someone’s world for a brief but intense moment and witnessing the reality of their experiences.

Seeing those systems in action made me wonder how they could be improved, not just for the people relying on them, but also for those working in them. That is when the next domino fell; I discovered design thinking and user experience (UX) design. I was interested in uncovering people’s frustrations and finding ways to improve their experiences. The more I learned, the more I realized this was the direction I wanted for my career. I started taking online courses with the Interaction Design Foundation, building my skills, and preparing for the transition into a new field.

Meanwhile, I landed my first job as a freelance user researcher for the e-commerce platform Temu; a role combining UX research and localization/translation. Fortunately, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. They needed someone with Bulgarian language and cultural expertise. Equally important, I fit the position well, thanks to the research skills I had developed through anthropology. This role became my first step toward a UX career.

UX was the domino that tipped me toward my next discovery: service design. I felt that same “click” I had experienced before. Service design was anthropology with tools or anthropology in action. And just like anthropology, service design applies to any industry, any project, anywhere. Service design analyzes the big picture: the entire journey across all touchpoints, both digital and physical. Seeing how people, processes, tools, and environments connect provided a way to turn what I had observed in classrooms, emergency rooms, and public services into real improvements.

Anthropology taught me to notice what is not being said, while service design gives me the tools to act on those insights and turn them into actionable solutions. While anthropology often focuses on understanding and explaining, service design pushes for changes in the real world. Whether it is redesigning a hospital waiting room, improving a student’s enrollment journey, or rethinking an immigration office experience, services are everywhere. Small, thoughtful changes can make a big difference in people’s lives. That is exactly why I studied anthropology, and it is why I am working toward a future in service design.

I am still at the early stages of my service design journey, but I am grateful to have found a way to apply my anthropological mindset and skills in a context that makes sense to me—and makes a difference.

So, to current and future students, I would say: you may end up applying anthropology in ways you have never imagined. And even if your title does not say “Anthropologist,” your career can still be deeply anthropological in the way you see, think, and work.

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