While I was learning a lot, I was also trying to figure out how much I should be doing beyond work. I had grand plans of immersing myself in workshops and maker spaces, theatre, meet ups, conferences, and Chicago’s wealth of culture. What I didn’t factor into that plan was commuting, budget constraints, maintaining health and wellbeing, and keeping up with friends and family. Hearing about the amazing things my classmates were doing, I felt ashamed of how little I was a part of beyond work.

Though comparison and feelings of inadequacy will always be a challenge, I know that the only way to forge my way through those feelings is to share my story and my journey with others. Perhaps that’s why story catching, a term I coined to describe Term 1, remained such a strong part of Term 2 for me.

During my month-long search for apprenticeships, I also started interviewing people about experiential learning. I was curious to see what other people thought experiential learning was, what threaded those individual stories together, and how experiential learning manifested in individuals’ lives. I interviewed 6 people – a teacherpreneur, a college junior, the founder of a school, an art teacher, and a recent graduate. These stories have turned into a newsletter-podcast that I send out each month in my newsletter Experience is the New Classroom and have become a part of my daily conversations.

In this term I’ve built a more technical skill set and learned about the design process, which I will utilize as I continue on to Term 3 at the University of Pittsburgh where I’ll be working with a graduate research team doing research on after school programs. I’m excited to continue working and learning, but I’m most excited to continue being surrounded by people who I can share knowledge and stories with.

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