For this class, I was asked to build a personal website that shows who I am as a student and where I'm headed. I didn't want it to read like a copy of a résumé. I'm a sophomore studying Business Analytics and Information Technology (BAIT) at Rutgers University, and I'm working toward a corporate career in management and, one day, real estate investing. The site needed to be professional, but it also needed some personality.
Why a nature theme?
I chose a "field journal" theme because growth is the best way to describe this stage of my life. I started college at 17 after graduating high school early, and much of what I'm doing now is planting seeds: classes, projects and the skills I'll need for my first internship. The design carries that idea throughout. My timeline grows as a stem with leaves, my goals move from seed to sapling to tree, and a vine grows down the page as you scroll. The theme also ties into something I care about. Sustainability has its own page, with practical habits for college students and a calculator that shows how small changes add up over a semester.
A career grows the way a field does: a little every season, from roots you put down early.
The header: a field of grass
The home page opens on a field of 3D grass instead of a regular banner photo. The blades sway in a gentle wind and bend away from your cursor as it moves across the screen. By day, pollen drifts over the field. Switch to night mode with the sun and moon button and the scene turns deep green, with fireflies glowing above the grass. The rest of the site picks up the same details: leaves fall at the top of each page, and layered hills shift as you scroll. I wanted the first few seconds on the site to be memorable, because that's often all the time a recruiter has.
What's next
This site will grow with me. Over the next few semesters I plan to add courses and projects as I complete them, the clubs I join at Rutgers and, most importantly, my first internship. I also want to keep improving the sustainability guide as I learn what actually works on campus. If you have an opportunity or just want to connect, the Contact page is the best way to reach me.
Helpful links
Sources & citations
- three.js authors. (n.d.). three.js: JavaScript 3D library. https://threejs.org/
- Garnier, J. (n.d.). anime.js: JavaScript animation engine. https://animejs.com/
- darkroom.engineering. (n.d.). Lenis: Smooth scroll. https://lenis.darkroom.engineering/
- Google. (n.d.). Google Fonts: Fraunces, DM Sans and DM Mono. https://fonts.google.com/
- Fonticons, Inc. (n.d.). Font Awesome icons. https://fontawesome.com/
Header image and night-mode image: screenshots of this website.