For three and a half years, I worked as an Advanced Instructional Assistant in the wood shop at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My role lived in the balance between technical support and creative freedom: I taught students how to use tools and machines safely, helped them troubleshoot their projects, and watched them grow from hesitant beginners into confident makers. Sometimes all it took was teaching someone how to saw a clean edge, and suddenly they felt ready to build something they'd been imagining. That shift—from "I can't" to "I can try"—is one of the most important things I've seen happen in a studio, and it's where my love of teaching through making took root.

Summer Camp Teaching Assistant