I even went as far as starting a business fixing and troubleshooting them. I really wanted to take it further and make a website for the business, but being 15 I had no clue about like that. Only what I'd taught myself already. So I carried on learning, eventually indulging further and further into the world of HTML/CSS and various other languages. This carried on through college, although I began to like web design more and drifted away from computing. However by this time, I could already use Photoshop to a reasonable standard, and I knew four computer languages - HTML, CSS, Javascript and JQuery. I was bored of not being challenged. I was in my final year, and in two months our Final Major Project was due.

I went all out as this was most likely the only moment in the two years of college that I enjoyed. I was told that I could do anything I wanted for the Final Major Project. I was certainly enthusiastic about art and design, although I was still rather confused about the education system in this country. Nobody really seemed to care, and I wanted to do something about it. I felt like we were learning the bare minimum. For my FMP, I created something that wasnt in the curriculum, something the class had never been taught. I didn't care about failing anymore, I wanted to design something that I could be actually be proud of. So, I created a website using HTML, CSS and JQuery and all the included graphics from scratch. For the content, I simply explained how I designed and coded it, step by step. It took me a week to do the first version. I had 6 weeks left so I carried on tweaking it. I added my Portfolio and some Photoshop Tutorials of work I'd done before. The excitement was overwheling. I was learning something well above the expected standards and re-teaching it. It was animated and touch-sensitive by the final version. I felt like I was walking in the clouds. And so this is how Airwalk Design began.

I was scored on the visuality of the interface, because it was a Graphic Design course, so my coding skills were ignored and I was discredited, as always, for disregarding the criteria. They told me education was the only way to earn a living and without my degree, I'd be nothing. Unemployable. I was determined. I still went on to University anyway. I was 18 then. By this time I had a crazy amount of skills in Art, Photoshop, Graphics, Web Design, Marketing, and too many more to mention. The learning became an obsession and Airwalk Design grew larger. I was doing freelance work, building up design resources, and sharing them with the world. I felt the same issues in University. It was boring, unchallenging, and it was stealing focus from Airwalk. Why was I paying £3225 every year, for this? People were leaving University in debt, with no career in front of them. All they had was their meaningless certificate. I left after three months. The Government tried very hard not to reimburse me, but a year later they refunded my tuition in full. They wern't having single dime of my money. Not a cent. 6 months later, the tuition fees went up by three times the original amount, making tuition fees £9675. In dollars, that's $46, 880 for the total three years! In my opinion, a complete waste of time.

Now we have countless students, all learning the bare minimum life skills, with no future, and in debt. Airwalk Design had remained in limbo for those six months, and would do for another seven. Planning was my focus then, but it seemed like I was going nowhere. It was like I had built an empire in my mind. It was mental. I still had countless ideas, but I really needed to start making things happen. Luckily, I was offered work as a Creative Director. I was 19, so it was an incredible opportunity. It was short-lived, as most 1st year startups usually fail (in the UK the approximate failure rate is 80%), but the money was great. I'm really thankful for everyone else who gave this me a chance, especially those who hired me for freelance work.

No degree, no money, no experience. Just the will to keep doing what I loved. My bank account liked to fluctuate between mad amounts of money and £0. 01, because it took me a while to realise what was working out for me and what wasn't, but that's what happens when you learn. You make mistakes. And I've learnt so much more by being out in the real world than if I were sitting behind a stupid desk. And so a month ago, in September 2011, I finally brought Airwalk Design into the limelight. New layout, new ideas, and the knowledge I'd gained over the last year or so. It's still not 100% all there, but I'm working on it. It's hard trying to maintain the website and my freelance status, but things are getting easier. I'm nowhere near where I want to be in life, but I've still accomplished more than most and I'll keep trying to do more. The art competition section has been there a while, the Photoshop tutorials have been there from the start, and together they accumulate about 50, 000 monthly visitors. I have a few advertisers, and now I'm setting up the design magazine, and of course the A2k Design Network. Freelance work comes and goes, usually at the wrong times, and slowly but surely, I'm going somewhere.