Three big takeaways from this project
- Work hard, and measure your time. When participating in the first-ever remote program, I found with everything else I had going on in my life that time management could be challenging. Knowing that the workshop was supposed to be one week in session, and instead stretched out over three weeks, one might have thought, oh I’ll certainly have time for everything. I instead found out I had to manage my time even better! When I fell ill the last week of the project (which has continued through to me writing this update) that threw a wrench into my guitar building and documentation even more. I can see how this program could be spread over a longer period of time for a course and I certainly could have used my time as well.
- It’s okay if everything doesn’t go to plan. As someone who likes to do a good job, I can get frustrated when things don’t go my way. I learned through this process that with the kits – the good news is it’s pretty hard to have something go very wrong or fail, and you’ll still end up with an awesome guitar. Did I know how long it would take to apply Tru Oil? No! Did I scratch my guitar when I didn’t mean to? Yes! Is my guitar still awesome? Well yes! This kind of resilience is what students need and why I loved this kit as a life-lesson as well as a lesson in guitar building itself.
- Having fun is part of the journey. I actually found myself really enjoying this project. Part of that fun comes from the satisfaction of kinesthetic learning and building something. In my education, I’ve had some fantastic experiences on this front, and that kind of learning doesn’t have to stop in one’s life. I’m grateful to continually learn through projects like this, and I’m excited to learn more once I can meet with others in this community.
