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Maker Community
The community of Maker is what truly makes it so special. You would be hard-fought to find a community of more accepting and supportive people on campus at UT. The minute I joined the Maker family at UT I felt welcome. This environment encourages being different, and being true to yourself.
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Meetings & Workshops
Over my nearly 3 years in UTeach Maker I have had the good fortune of attending many monthly cohort meetings, weekend workshops, interning at a makerspace, and building lifelong friendships.
A big part of making for me is the idea of making something for someone else. I love to give creative and personal gifts to my family and friends. Through UTeach Maker workshops I have been able to create a few of my favorite gifts to give away. These include the likes of a homemade snow globe, homemade cards, and a light up string art that I was working on in the picture below.
The Foundry
One of, if not the most influential parts of my college making experience came from my internship at The Foundry in the Fine Arts Library on campus at UT. The Foundry is a teach-first, free to use, makerspace for all students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin. My role during my internship was dual facetted. I was focused on finding ways that the machines in the Foundry could be implemented in K-12 schools, while also teaching and assisting patrons with creating their own projects and designs.
While working this internship I was able to build bonds with my colleagues and learn tricks from each of them while also sharing some of my own with them. I also had the chance to get to know a variety of different individuals who would come in to The Foundry, especially our regulars. Whether I was helping these patrons or not, one of my favorite parts of this opportunity was getting to meet new people and learn about their projects and aspirations tailored to making.
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Just like in the classroom, I wanted to make everyone feel safe and comfortable whenever they would come in to The Foundry. The first thing I would always do was ask how their day was going and then ask what I could help them with that day. If it was their first time at The Foundry I would help certify them on the machine they were interested in using and answer any questions they might have. I believe that a big part of my job was being approachable and willing to help whenever I was needed. Not everyone would come into The Foundry with the same level of knowledge on rules and regulations so it was important to be patient and remind them that mistakes are good, and always a learning experience. Which just happens to be one of the backbones of the Maker mentality.
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And always remember: safety first! :)
Other Experiences
I have also had the luxury to talk about my experience within the program on multiple different occasions. I was asked to share to the Board of UTeach and got to see first hand the behind the scenes of fundraising for an organization like UTeach Maker.
I also presented the benefits of using The Foundry and making to my peers in Math and Science Teachers of Tomorrow (seen above), and I was even interviewed for an article in the Daily Texan to talk about my journey into making (seen to the right).
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Click the image to be taken to the article!
Friendship
However, the part of Maker that I will always be the most grateful for is the relationships it has helped me ~make~.
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Below is a collection of photos of some of the many amazing people I have had the honor of calling my friends over the past 3 years.
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