Jason Leon: Getting Involved at SCU
When I first moved into Santa Clara, I struggled to be more involved outside of the classroom. Because my freshman year was all online, I found it hard to muster the courage to attend a meeting for a club I knew no one in, and this led to me brushing any involvement aside, creating an almost endless loop. But that changed this past January when my housemate invited me to attend the SCU Maker Club meeting coming up that week. I told him I wasn't sure if I would feel invited because we were already a few weeks into the quarter. He assured me that wouldn't be the case and so I convinced myself to tag along. That day they showed us how the laser printer worked and we made custom stickers. The club moderators were super open to talking and answering questions and from there I made the conscious decision that I would be more active at the meetings.
Most recently we used the 3D Printers and I was able to create a few small designs that, in my opinion, came out really nice! After this meeting, I had a conversation with the president of the club about innovation and design and I made some connections with the marketing field. I knew I wanted to go into something along the lines of product marketing or product design, and I found out that the Maker Club would be perfect for me. Future projects include making functioning clocks and bedside lamps, which I am really excited for. I hope to learn more about product design through the SCU Maker Club and apply it to my coursework and beyond. I have a really good feeling that these skills will benefit me and my professional career when looking to get hired for a position that involves strategic and innovative design in the marketing world!