How My Journey to Becoming a Maker Evolved

By Connor Challis

My journey to becoming a maker began in middle school. Just as I was entering 8th grade at Olympus Junior High, they were rolling out their very first PLTW (Project Lead The Way) class, and my teacher Tim Conway was absolutely ecstatic about teaching it. After joining that class, the only thing I wanted to be was an engineer.

I was infected with that itch that all makers get — the desire to build something. But I had never even heard of a makerspace, didn’t have any skills, and didn’t have any funding for projects. So, what did I do? I started teaching myself. I learned CAD. I learned to use more tools and then power tools and then onto some heavier stuff.

Transitioning Interests

I got into high school and started taking every STEM course my school offered. But I was torn. My whole life, from childhood until that point, I had lived in the water, but at that point I felt that I was investing way too much time and energy into my swim team and water polo team. I quit them both and joined my high school robotics club instead. I walked away from years of practice and dedication to these sports because I saw the potential in using my creative juices elsewhere. And man, am I happy I made that decision. It was like opening a Christmas present that had infinite possibilities.

By my senior year, I was a teacher’s intern for a STEM class under Steve Dolan. He taught most of my engineering and wood shop classes, and he did a wonderful job assisting me with furthering my learning. I was interning at an engineering firm, leading part of my robotics club, and constantly working on something. It was wonderful — a whole new lifestyle had opened up to me. I had mentors and access to facilities, which were limited but fine for what I was working on.

Next, I began to learn some basic electronics and fell in love. I would stay in my high school shop until they kicked me out just about every night. I went from going home at the first possible chance after practice to taking every moment I could get at the shop. That’s the power of finding your passion. I’m not forced to work anymore. I work because I want to know more. I work because it’s challenging. I work because I want to work now.

Shifting Views on Group Projects

This was the turning point when I started learning what it means to be a maker: I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do, as long as I put in the effort. I was building a solid foundation to lean on and had a world of projects in front of me. But something always troubled me. You see, there are two words that you can say to any student to make them groan. Just say “group project” to a group of high schoolers and wait for the collective roll of their eyes. I loathe group projects in English classes. I despise group history projects despite loving history. Forced collaboration for a class that’s not conducive to facilitating a group project doesn’t teach teamwork. It makes people not want to work with others. It makes students shy away from project-based learning.

I decided that the first step toward solving this issue was to address it. If you just follow the basic path in school, you won’t be prepared for higher-level projects or the working world. I had found that I enjoyed working on projects immensely, but students are trained to hate projects. So, to counter this, I started doing outreaches with my robotics club and coming up with projects that I could implement in the classes where I was an intern. I needed to make more projects to share with others.

Step one: Start making more projects to teach myself topics I thought were important. If I want to make any fraction of a percentage of difference in this world, I need more knowledge. But my biggest foe has always been my ambition. I didn’t know how to harness it then, and it’s something I still struggle with today. Most of my mind is logical and procedural, but a sizeable chunk of my brain just wants to do everything and run wild and free. It’s like a cowboy trying to ride and tame a wild horse.

I needed peers to collaborate with, bounce ideas off of, and shape realistic expectations from. I needed a way to harness my ambition. I needed a community to build with and rely on outside of my school. Looking back, I needed a makerspace.

Enter Hacker Lab

After I got out of high school, I joined my local community college, Sierra College, where I’ve learned the most about electronics and engineering. Through my college robotics club, I was introduced to my local makerspace, the Hacker Lab (powered by Sierra College). I’m finally working with a collaborative community to generate the interest for making in others. I even recently collaborated with fellow mechatronics major Mason Sage to develop a robotic hand that is programmed in American Sign Language.

I get to participate in conferences, lectures, and competitions because of my makerspace network. I get to build and collaborate and explore new ideas in a safe and positive environment at my makerspace. It augments and enhances my education because I feel at home here. I’m confident in my decisions that have led me to this point because I fit in at my makerspace. I’m able to achieve great things, but I’m not special. Nothing about my education is particularly outstanding. I didn’t get into Stanford. I didn’t get into Cal Poly. It was the environment that I’m in now that cultivated my interest for creating. Makerspaces are conducive to learning and experimenting, and that’s a fact that I will stand by and defend.

Middle school developed my interest in making. High school developed my understanding of the underlying principles. College develops the skills needed to create anything I want. And makerspaces offer the freedom and facilities that let you apply all the knowledge you’ve amassed.

I became a maker because of the influence others have had on me and the environment I progressed in. Without the influence of my peers, my family, or my mentors, I wouldn’t have ever chosen this path. Talk about your projects. Tell stories. Convince others to try making things. Be the positive influence you needed when you were getting started. It’s a cycle and we need to help out the next generations and make a better future for those who come after us.

This article first appeared in the CCC Maker publication titled “Makerspace Impact: Implementation Strategies & Stories of Transformation” (2019).