This summer, I had the opportunity to study guitar with Charlie Akers of Swallow Hill Music Association in Columbus, Ohio. Through Charlie’s mentorship, long days of consistent practice and the formation of a genuine obsession, I have fostered a new perspective on music that caused me to switch majors from Computer Engineering to Creative Practices, Business, and Technology with a Minor in Music, Media, and Enterprise. 

Prior to starting the project, I was lost as to what I wanted to do professionally. I wasn’t making the grades to successfully be admitted to the College of Engineering, I lacked the determination to stick it through, and most importantly, I wasn’t happy. I realized I had been pursuing an engineering degree for my family, not for me. I grew up with a family of engineers, doctors, and surgeons, and from a young age I was encouraged to follow in my family’s footsteps. Whenever I expressed interest in a creative career (I.e. music, acting, the arts) to different members of my family, I was always shut down. So I bit the bullet and decided to shoot for an engineering degree, but pursue a minor in music to keep that passion. 

Through the completion of this project, I have realized that music is truly my calling. I know with every fiber inside of me that I was born to be a musician. Music brings out the most emotional parts of who I am. Music gets me through my day, whether it be listening, performing, writing or being in the presence of it (through other musicians), music is the backbone of my life. Beyond the passion for it, I have learned that I have quite a good ear, music theory is easier for me to understand than calculus, and I soak up material like a sponge. It took a lot of late nights, deep thought, and intent to make the decision, but switching majors was the best decision I could have made, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the completion of this project.  

A few weeks into my project, I decided to put the guitar down for a bit and sit outside to just listen to music. I had been struggling over the few weeks with the problems of the adult world: rent, bills, funding my own education, not having enough time for myself and those close to me, and I just needed a break to collect my thoughts. I decided to listen to The Wall by Pink Floyd. Besides the album being fantastic the whole way through, one song changed me. It was this one song that shook me to my core, and it was this song that formed the obsession I have with my guitars, and my music: Comfortably Numb.  

I felt as if Roger Waters and David Gilmour were talking straight to me through the lyrics. Though the original meaning of the lyrics isn’t entirely accurate to my story, struggles with addiction, emotional numbness, and complacency were all plaguing my head. The final guitar solo flipped a switch inside of me. “I am going to be great. I don’t care what I have to do, how long it will take, how much work I have to put in, I have too unique of a story to pursue a life of unfulfillment.” This was the moment I knew I was switching majors. 

During the project, I fostered a working relationship with my guitar teacher, Charlie. Beyond him being a very competent and accomplished musician, he is a great guy. One day he invited me to watch his band perform at the Brother’s Drake Meadery in the Short North District of Columbus. I hadn’t heard much of the style he really dedicated himself to (neo funk and soul), so I decided to see him shine. Watching him and his bandmates perfectly execute complex jazz routines so effortlessly was inspiring. I know that it took hours of practice from all members of the band to get it to sound perfect but watching them all do it with a smile on their faces brought tears to my eyes. I love seeing others with deep rooted love for something, and being in a room full of other musicians gave me a sense of community that I hadn’t felt anywhere else. It was euphoria. This experience gave me the itch to start performing live. 

During the project in mid-June, a friend reached out to tell me that she was really impressed with my music, and asked if I would be able to perform a few songs for a climate rally that she was organizing. Without a second to think about it, I told her “Without question”. I grew up being a performer, I was in musical and non-musical theatre all through middle and high school. I was also in my high school choir and A Capella group. I loved performing for people, but I had never performed alone. I had never been in a performance where audiences watched me. I had about a week and a half to prepare a three-song set, so I locked myself in my room and didn’t come out until I had my performance locked down. The day of the rally came and I was through the roof excited. I had been fighting a cold the last few days, so I took every measure to make sure I sounded as good as I could prepare. I took sinus spray, used a Netti pot, drank tea with enough honey to fuel a child for a week, and my body’s weight in water. I warmed up properly, practiced my routine repeatedly, and eventually went to the rally and played. It was the most fun I ever had. I felt like the last 10 years of my life I spent questioning if music was right for me had been justified. My soul came through my playing of guitar. I had written a cover of a song that originally had no guitar solo, but added one to give it my own twist and flavor. When I played that, it felt like I was one with my instrument. There are consistently moments in my day to day life after the project that make me fall deeper and deeper in love with music and solidify my convictions in my career outlook, but these three particular moments were the foundation to my transformation. 

Before the project, I didn’t know what I wanted to do post grad. As an engineering major, I had no idea what field I wanted to get into. I felt like were too many options, and not enough that piqued my interest. The moment I made the switch to my major, I knew exactly what I want to do. The Creative Practice, Business and Technology major allows me to learn about the music industry and how to navigate it with standard business practices. I will be learning the technical side of audio recording and music production, music theory, and I will be able to take guitar centered classes as well. While my minor in Music, Media, and Enterprise essentially supports my major through a concentrated focus on the big name music industry.  

For the first time in my life, I know what I want to do. Post graduation, I want to be able to perform, write and produce music for myself and other artists. I will additionally be licensing my music for use in television and movies. I want to spend about 15 years as a performer, and establish a name for myself. I don’t care about fame, I only want to inspire someone the same way I was inspired. I want to be the cause for a generation of people to follow their dreams. Once I am done as a performer, I want to make it easier for those who do seek a career in music to make it. The music industry is an incredibly competitive career field. It is astronomically difficult for musicians to get their music heard by a big audience. I want to start a company/outlet that makes it easier for anyone seeking a career in music to be successful. 

This past summer, I had the opportunity to pursue a longtime passion through my STEP Signature Project: guitar! I took weekly lessons with Drew Thompson of Insight Guitar in my hometown of Hudson, OH. With Mr. Thompson’s guidance and lots of practice, I learned so much about guitar techniques, became more confident playing with and in front of others, and gained a new appreciation for the instrument.

When I started my STEP Project, I was eager to jump right into the more advanced aspects of playing the guitar. I had some self-led experience with acoustic guitar and years of piano under my belt, but I was wading into new territory with formal lessons and the electric guitar; it felt like I was starting from ground zero. However, over the course of the summer, I learned how valuable it is to focus on building the basics instead of rushing into something before I’m ready. By the end of the summer, I was taking solos as I’d always wanted to try, but to do that I had to practice my scales. I had a lot of fun playing to fast-paced rock songs, but before that I needed to learn how to even hold a pick properly. Through this experience, I gained a new perspective on the importance of being consistent and patient when learning a new skill or starting a new project.

The first thing I learned during my lessons was how to hold a guitar pick. I had always strummed the strings with my fingers, resulting in a more mellow, muted tone, but I came to also appreciate the precision and power that came with wielding a pick. At the start of each lesson we would play through some note-reading exercises, and though I’d run through these exercises with ease at home, playing them for someone else helped me realize where they were shaky and needed more time. This was an important step, as it ensured these skills were secure instead of speeding through exercises as I might have done without guidance. In addition to using a pick and reading through notes, I learned new chords, scales, strumming patterns, and once I was more confident with these foundational skills, we also went through techniques such as hammer-ons and pull-offs, vibrato, and bends. Practicing consistently was also vital to cement my understanding of these concepts, and every week I felt like I had improved in my guitar-playing ability. I also learned a lot about guitar tones and using an amp. It was amazing to learn so many new things and I will continue to use them during my personal practice.

One of my favorite parts of the experience was learning to solo. Though I was intimidated by the idea of improvising at the beginning, especially in front of other people, I was also very excited by it. This was the perfect opportunity to try it out and become more confident in my soloing ability. As I learned songs, we would play through them together during lessons and eventually incorporate jam sessions once I had a good handle on them. It was a really fun time and allowed me to put many of the techniques I had learned into use. Another aspect of the project that I enjoyed was arranging and learning to play one of my favorite songs; though Mr. Thompson assigned me many iconic songs to help me practice various skills, he also encouraged me to bring any songs I wanted to play to the table. The song is made by an indie band and has limited guitar tabs available online, so we made our own arrangement by listening closely to the recording and watching live performances. This was a very cool experience that inspired me to make my own tabs for music I like in the future.

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn under Mr. Thompson’s guidance. Over the summer, we got to know each other and built a cordial relationship, which made lessons feel personal and welcoming. As an experienced musician and excellent teacher, he infused each lesson with positivity, patience, and a passion for the instrument. He was always eager to help and give his insights on any questions I had. Additionally, he taught me that some skills come with time and that as long as I continue to practice them, they will surely improve. It was in this relaxed and enthusiastic environment that I found the means to grow week by week.

After a summer of music and improvement, I am eager to carry what I have learned into my daily life. Through this experience, I gained knowledge and skills playing one of my favorite instruments, balanced my time between practicing and other commitments, and accomplished the goals I set out to do at the beginning of my project. What I have learned in my STEP Project has also helped me learn a valuable lesson, not just in music, but also in other aspects of my life going forward. I anticipate that this will be important to keep in mind as I progress in other aspects of my life such as academics and eventually my career. It is important to be patient with myself and not get discouraged, as I sometimes do when I take on a new project and run into obstacles. Instead of being intimidated or losing interest in something when it is hard, I want to take on challenges and keep moving forward, little by little, towards my dreams.

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

This summer I took one-on-one photography lessons with a professional photography in my hometown. I took a class about the basics of photography and how to take high quality photos of different occasions such as nature, animals, individuals, couples, and groups. The second class I took covered Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop where I learned how to edit and fix small mistakes in photos.

2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

Something that I had to learn while taking these classes was how to look at the world through a focused, creative lens. In photography, there are so many things to consider including lighting, positioning of the model/object, posing and expressions of the model, what angle you want to shoot at, what colors and themes do you want present in the photo, and more. Learning how to do this allowed me to see the world in a new way where I see things that I would not have even glanced at before. Photography is all about executing your vision and capturing the personality and amazing qualities of the model. Seeing how excited and confident that photos make the person I’m photographing is incredibly rewarding and motivates me to continue to learn and better my skills. These classes unlocked a new creative side of my personality that I have loved being able to explore.

3. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

My relationship with the photographer was crucial in helping me learn and become confident in being a photographer. As I built a trusted friendship with her, she was able to cater the classes towards what I wanted to learn. She was always willing to answer my questions and make sure that I was fully comprehending the material. We would also go out and take photos together so that I could get hands on experience. She set up several great opportunities for me to take pictures in different settings that really helped my learning experience.

The thing that helped me the most with learning photography was to dive in and start taking pictures of people, animals, and nature. I started practicing on my own friends and family which helped ease me into it at first. I also enjoyed taking pictures of my cats and other animals that I saw. As I became more confident in my skills, the photographer helped set up a couple mini photo sessions where I would be the main photographer, but she would be there as well to walk me through it and give me advice and help as I needed. These experiences made me nervous, but I think that they were what led to the realizations I had about what my creative vision looked like.

One session I did was of the photographer’s niece, and we did a practice high school senior session. I obtained a deeper understanding of how to direct the model and describe the different poses I want them to do. I also had to scope out different locations ideas and find spots that would make good backgrounds. Photography also involves working with the model and their family to make sure that I am capturing what they want and that they are loving the photos as much as I do. Another session I did was a couple’s photoshoot of a couple I know who got engaged this summer. It was so sweet to be able to capture their love and relationship in photos.

Photography takes a lot of practice as well as trial and error and sometimes even the best trained photographers make mistakes or don’t capture the shot that they wished for. These experiences and lessons helped give me a starting point on figuring out my style of photography and what type of pictures I want to take.

4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

There are several ways that this project has been important to my personal goals and future plans. One reason that I chose this project was because since coming to college, I found that it was difficult to find something to fulfill that creative side of me. The skills I learned will help me foster new connections and relationships with people as I immerse myself into the photography world. My mom is the photographer in our family and has taken pictures of countless birthdays, sports games, family events, vacations, performances, and more. Learning about photography has helped me to get closer to my mom as we bond over our love of photography, and I am excited to start taking pictures of my family as well. Another goal I had going into this project was to be able to take my friend’s graduation pictures when she graduates from OSU in the spring. I feel confident enough in my abilities to be able to do that for her and that may just be the beginning of my photography career.

This project has also been valuable for my personal and academic plans because it taught me other skills than just photography. I learned about time management because when you only have a small amount of time with a person you really have to maximize the time you have to get as many photos as possible. Another valuable lesson I learned was how to interact professionally with people from coordinating the session to seeing what they want to get out of these photos to doing the session and sending the finalized photos to them and making sure they love them. Lastly, I gained a lot of confidence and figured out how to assert myself in a polite way. As a photographer you have to explain and show the model how you want them to stand and pose and you also have to hype them up and make sure they are feeling confident as well. I am usually on the shyer and quieter side so learning how to be confident and assert myself has been really important this summer and I think it will be incredibly important as I achieve my academic and career goals.

Within my STEP Signature Project, I learned how to sew and learned how to create a hanbok. I was able to learn and practice stitches and patterns and how to put together clothing.

I changed in becoming a better person through my STEP Signature Project as I was able to become a much more patient and enduring person. I found myself growing more confident, though I did continue at a slow pace throughout the project. My view of the world changed as I learned of how much work and dedication goes into hobbies and businesses of the arts.

Learning how to sew was difficult and I gained a better understanding of how much effort goes into sewing and artistic creations. I’m used to watching very sped up videos on social media about sewing that makes it look much easier and faster than it really is. It takes a lot of concentration and practice, and I also transformed in working hard in practicing and perfecting my project. The process of sewing was slow and steady.

My mentor helped me a lot with encouragement when I felt frustrated. I have always been scared of needles and sewing meant I had to deal with that fear. I pricked myself several times and learned to accept mistakes and fears and overcome them. I learned to focus better for long periods of time and work on intricate details. I gained perseverance and patience in working on this project. I made many mistakes but learned from them each time.

With firsthand experience of spending so much time learning a new skill, I realized that it really does take a lot of time and effort for people to get to a place where they can seemingly effortlessly work on projects. Creating traditional clothing also made me gain newfound respect and admiration for my culture and learn more of it. The STEP Signature Project really helped me grow as a person in these aspects.

These changes and transformations are important and valuable for my life as I gained so many skills. Of these skills, I was able to obtain a new artistic skill and hobby of sewing, gain more experience in working hard and passionately in order to achieve a goal, gain a better understanding of cultural and artistic values, and work through and improve on patience, hard work, and perseverance that will aid me in my academic and professional goals of success. I have gained more experience in how to work through problems as well as how to express myself.

For my STEP Signature Project, I enrolled in the STEP Computer Build Program. This program was a professionally-led, synchronous guide in building a PC. I was instructed by Ty James–a teacher in cybersecurity–from June 15th to August 17th. We met online for a total of 8 weekly sessions to discuss the budgeting, parts, specifications, building, and troubleshooting of a PC. Once Ty had reviewed my parts, I ordered them and built the PC from home with the help of some friends. The last session was a “reporting out” meeting, where I presented my experience to STEP staff. 

This STEP project changed my understanding of technology as well as my attitude towards myself and what I am capable of. I’ve always considered myself someone who would never have a solid grasp on anything engineering related: mathematics, physics, computer science, etc. Throughout middle and high school, I avoided these sorts of subjects and dismissed them constantly, saying to myself: “That’s not where my skills lie.” A sort of mental block started to develop whenever I encountered them. I certainly could have excelled better in math had I not been so discouraged to learn it. 

I brought this maladaptive mindset with me to my freshman year of college. Although I had chosen neuroscience as my major, it became increasingly obvious that I could not avoid encountering these subjects. Computer science, I have always dreaded. Despite it being incredibly necessary for the career in research I want to pursue, coding is an incredibly arduous task for me. I took an intro level Java course and hated every second of it. 

So when it came time to do my STEP project, I had decided that I would attempt to do something to help alleviate this mental barrier I had developed. This is why I decided to build a pc. If I could build such a complicated machine, then there would be no reason I couldn’t achieve success in similar areas.

From researching parts, budgeting, making specification decisions, and actually building the pc, I learned quite a bit. I was initially intimidated at the prospect of building it, but with the help of some experienced friends, it was a relatively straightforward process. Even now, it is surprising to me that the machine I’m using to type this right now is one that was built by myself. Because of this project, I’m now far more optimistic in approaching difficult subjects like computer science.

A key aspect of my STEP experience that led to this change in mindset would have to be the building process. For my whole life, I’ve been bewildered by computers and what they were capable of; I always thought they would be far too complex to understand. But when I was able to physically hold and inspect each part I had thoroughly researched and bought, the task became far less daunting. At the most basic level, computers are simple to understand. All information is stored in a binary language: bits. Bits can either be off (0) or on (1). By taking this very basic unit and iterating it over and over, one can transmit information through sheer numbers. The silicon I was holding, put simply, was just that. A large collection of nodes that can transmit information using electricity. Of course, the various parts differ in specialization and scale, but understanding it like this went a long way for me and my attitude towards technology. 

Another key aspect of my STEP experience that led to this change was the mentorship. Ty James guided our group through the process the whole way, answering every question and concern we had. It gave me a lot of confidence in building the pc having his input, as I had never undertaken a project quite like this. There were many instances throughout the summer where I was lost and unsure with how to proceed. For example, I didn’t know what sort of gpu would be suitable for me. I was struggling to decide between AMD and Nvidia, the main two manufacturers of graphics cards. On the one hand, Nvidia gpus are widely used and known to be reliable. All of my previous gpus were Nvidia so it was my gut instinct to go with that. However, AMD gpus were far cheaper and gaining popularity recently. If I went with AMD, I’d be able to allocate more funds towards other parts. After talking it over with Ty, I came to the decision to go with AMD, and I have been happy with that decision.

These changes and transformations are valuable for my life because a change in mindset is invaluable for success in any field. Because of this STEP project, I was able to alleviate the mental block I had with subjects like mathematics and computer science. As someone looking to do behavioral neuroscience research, having the motivation to pursue these skills as well as the equipment needed to learn them is very useful.  Since I will continue to learn these skills throughout my career, I’m very happy for having done this STEP project. 

This summer, I completed my STEP project– a guided computer build. I was responsible for creating a parts list, ordering the parts, and building the computer. In addition to this, I was part of a group of four or five people who met with a cybersecurity professional on a regular basis. He served as our guide and touch-point to the rest of the tech and computer-building world.

In doing this project, I feel like I was given the chance to approach a new problem (building a computer from scratch with a limited budget) from a different perspective than I usually would. When doing this project, I focused a lot on how I was engaging with creating. Ordinarily, I feel like I don’t put a lot of stock in what I think I know. Through this project, I have developed a new understanding of my approach to larger projects, as well as my approach to new things. I feel like I now can look at an entire project from start to finish, and see what steps I will have to take, before even making the first action. This has given me a chance to practice more foresight in my projects, when I usually get tunnel vision and get stuck in what I am doing in the moment. Most importantly, though, I had the chance to build my own confidence in myself.

I think the biggest thing that led to this transformation was the required process of my computer build. Because I wasn’t able to just go off and do, I had to spend a lot more time waiting, and thinking. For example, after I created my parts list, I sent it over to my supervisor to be approved. But I then spent a week or so waiting for the approval to come, so I looked more into what I was doing, and ended up revising it slightly. So by the time my advisor got back to me with approval, I had a totally new parts list that I felt even more confident in than before.

Being forced to step away from the project gave me a chance to clear my head and approach it with fresh eyes regularly. I think that if I had done this build on my own, I would have gone with the first parts list I came up with, bought everything right away, and ended up regretting it. By compiling my parts list over the course of two months, I gave myself time to learn more about what I was doing, gain a better understanding of what I wanted out of the project, and know when deals often happened, getting me better prices for parts.

I also believe that working with two people in particular really helped me grow with this project. The first was my advisor, who made sure I genuinely understood what everything was for, and what I needed to be doing. The second was my partner, who sat next to me while I actually built the computer. He has built multiple computers before, and I was very worried going into the build that I wouldn’t trust myself, and would end up asking him to build it. He made sure that absolutely didn’t let that happen. The only time he touched anything was when I needed a third or fourth hand. He made me feel so confident, and just sat back and let me tell him what I was doing. This showed me that I really did know what I was doing, and that I could continue to put more trust in myself from here on out.

I didn’t quite realize the impact this project had on me until I started classes this year. At first, I thought it was just the problem solving that I improved in. But at the start of the semester, I have found myself feeling more confident, engaging in class more, and even talking to more people. I genuinely think that these are because of my experience over the summer. I proved to myself that I *do* belong in engineering, and that I *do* know what I’m talking about. I feel so much more confident after this build, and I genuinely can’t express how life changing that confidence is.

Hi, my name is Emma Wang, and this summer I was able to participate in a guided PC build workshop. I was able to build a PC that can be an engineering workstation while gaining technical skills that aren’t taught in classes. I was also able to gain experience about the inner workings of a computer, improving my tech fluency.

The first transformation that occurred over the course of this project is I learned a lot more about computer hardware engineering. The special thing about building a PC is that you realize every single component is modular, and any single piece can be individually upgraded or replaced. I never knew about this before, as I had always used pre-build laptops and iPads that weren’t easily taken apart and rebuilt. This helped me realize the beauty of hand-built PCs, where different modules can be uprgaded independently as the user’s needs change. This is similar in concept to what I’ve learned about emphasizing end user needs in engineering courses. The second transformation that took place over this project is that I learned more about how I approach problems. Because I’ve never built a PC before, every step had to be carefully researched before I felt comfortable moving forward in the build. I was very wary about breaking any components by putting them in the wrong orientation, or crushing any pins etc, so progress was slow as I navigated through the different build steps. I learned that I tend to approach problems carefully, but that I needed to be careful to avoid being caught up in the small details.

One key aspect of completing this computer build was doing research online. First, I needed to research the necessary specs to support the capabilities I wanted for my PC. Next, I researched part compatibility to determine if the parts I had in mind would fit together inside the case. Finally, I used an online price tracker to find the optimal deals to take advantage of. This process helped me develop my eye for detail. as improperly chosen parts would not work together, or not fit on the motherboard properly, etc.

The next important part of this project was learning how to problem solve. Computer builds almost never go perfectly for a first time builder, and I ran into a multitude of issues. One of them was being afraid of breaking the delicate pins on the various parts while fitting them together. It took some bravery to push down hard on parts that cost hundreds of dollars. I overcame this fear by doing extensive research and watching videos of other people documenting their builds so I could be more confident in my actions. Another major problem I ran into was accidentally ordering the wrong sized CPU cooler due to the correct part being out of stock This was a mistake that cost me my original internal plan. I had to completely rework the inner structure of my PC in order to fit the part in. I learned about being adaptable when the problem cannot be solved.

The third part of this project that was transforming was working with friends on the PC. At multiple points in the build, I worked alongside people who had experience building PCs to overcome complicated parts. Learning how to work efficiently together in a cramped space required cooperation and being willing to hold parts in place while the other person screwed it in. I had to learn how to appreciate the building process even when it wasn’t always me doing the most exciting parts. This skill will definitely be useful in the future when I work on teams again and I need to cooperate with others.

This transformation was very valuable to me because not only was I able to build a PC that can be an engineering workstation, I also gained a lot of invaluable skills as well as learned about computer hardware careers through the STEP course. Academically, this PC will support my goals because my laptop can’t handle a lot of 3D modeling softwares such as Solidworks that I will need in my engineering career. For research, I will also be learning to use ImageJ software, which will run a lot better on my PC. As for my future plans, I was able to gain technical skills that aren’t taught in engineering classes. One of the main barriers between my biomedical engineering major and my future goals is the lack of technical experience gained during college courses regarding technical and hardware skills. Employers in the healthcare engineering field I want to enter typically look for strong mechanical and computer engineering skills, skills that I believe could be further supplemented with a project such as this. This project allowed me to develop these skills and increase my confidence working with computers.