FEATURED POST

I was a member at the Techshop downtown in middle school. Our school received multiple memberships, this fueled my passion for building and creating anything and everything. The Techshop sadly closed but a teacher and I knew we had to build something like it at school. During my last year of middle school and Freshman year, we applied to several different grants. By the end of the year, we received enough funding to build our dream space. The next year we had a laser cutting, 3D printer, vinyl cutter, heat press, a lot of woodworking tools, and much more. Throughout the summer I helped build shelves and different tables for the tools. At the beginning of my Sophomore year, we started the makerspace business club. This allowed us to create high quality products to sell to the community and use the funding to grow and maintain the makerspace.

Outside of the business club and school projects, I have used the space to build and create personal projects. I also train most students how to use the tools at first and help teachers implement the space into the classroom. Along with that I have built a personal business selling my creations. The first one is On the Rail Designs. On the Rail Designs builds high quality dressage letters for vinyl horse fencing. I had to design and build a machine to bend my acrylic in order to bend the letters. This year I designed several racing art pieces which I am selling to the local karting community. The lessons I have gained from these experiences are so valuable!

Throughout my time in the makerspace I have learned how to receive funding for your dreams, build a business, implement it into the classroom, and had so many more valuable experiences. Since I have enjoyed it so much I made sure the university I was going to had a space like it. It was very hard to find but I did in the end. This space has fueled my passion to build a successful business in the future and study entrepreneurship at Wichita State.