bat, are easily obtainable statistics that identify
truly great swingers. An exceptional batting
average is considered around .300, or 3 hits out
of every 10 at-bats. Following the same logic, the
maker equivalent would be about 3 successful
projects out of every 10 attempts. That seems
like a strange marker of success, doesn’t
it? Having only a 30% success” rate sounds
less than ideal. However, the Make: Learning
Labs program showed me that, like baseball,
numbers like this don’t really indicate successes
or failures; there is a lot going on behind the
scenes of making that a mathematical equation
can never capture.
2013 was my first year playing with Make:;
I was 9 years old and my parents took me to
one of the coolest places I had ever been —
Maker Faire Bay Area in San Mateo, California.
I watched in awe as the movies and toys I loved
literally came to life around me; giant replicas
of WALL-E and the Mouse Trap board game
were highlights. I was hooked, this was a true
home run. The next year, my dad and I got the
equivalent of a maker’s Golden Ticket: a free
pass to enter the Faire early. We had the entire
complex practically to ourselves a dream
come true, which gave me even more time to
absorb the magnificence of the DIY creations. I
saw miniature Lego dioramas of Gondor from
The Lord of the Rings and various battles from
across the Star Wars galaxy. I came across a
gigantic steampunk submarine on wheels and
befriended one of the life-sized R2-D2s, who
followed me around for what seemed like the
entire day. Over the next few years, I would
re-create Back to the Futures iconic poster
(while inside a DeLorean replica), find an action-
packed diorama made entirely out of masking
tape, watch far too many Mentos shoved into
far too many bottles of Diet Coke, and witness
the largest bubble blower in the world make
a string of soap bubbles about the size of my
house. It was all amazing, and I always left the
Faire feeling inspired and ready to make my own
wondrous invention.
But, that never ended up happening. Despite
my love of the finished products at Maker Faire,
I was never quite as excited about the process
of making, or actually stepping up to the plate.
I was deathly afraid of a soldering iron for too long.
I cannot use scissors to save my life. I never forgot
the excitement I felt while at the events, though,
which is why I was so interested to learn that
Make: was sponsoring a program geared towards
introducing young adults to making, calledthe
Make: Learning Labs. I made my complete lack of
experience very clear in the applications, but I got
drafted into the majors anyway. How did that turn
out, you might ask? Well, my final project wasn’t a
40-foot steampunk fire-breathing octopus or a life-
size version of Chutes and Ladders; it’s actually this
article, highlighting what I’ve learned both about
making and about myself.
The Learning Labs program was an internship
designed to introduce a variety of making concepts
over a 12-week period, and I joined 12 other interns
for the pilot season (a summary of the program
can be found at learn.make.co). Truth be told, I was
ready to quit after the first week. I felt hopelessly
underqualified and struggled to understand the
basic concepts from class while the other interns
seemed confident enough to start exploring
on their own time. Before walking off the field,
though, I set up a meeting with Program Director
Nancy Otero. To my surprise, she agreed with my
assessment that I was a tee-ball player suddenly
drafted into the World Series, but she also assured
Adobe Stock-Balint Radu, Marquam Piros
21
make.co
Written by Marshall Piros
Up close with R2-D2
at Maker Faire Bay Area
2016, age 12.
M78_020-23_LearningLabs_F1.indd 21M78_020-23_LearningLabs_F1.indd 21 7/12/21 12:22 PM7/12/21 12:22 PM
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