Making the World a Better Place, One Makerspace at a Time

By Mikayla Huffman, makerspace student engineer

The thing I love about Makerspaces is that the only limit is your imagination. Now that sounds like a cliche line you might read in a brochure, but it’s the truth. You have an idea, we have the tools and the ability to teach you how to use them. It’s that simple. A Makerspace is where people come together to share knowledge for the good of the group. And that’s what I love about working at the Small Hall Makerspace- it’s a place where interdisciplinary cooperation is commonplace, and you learn for the fun of it, not just because someone told you to. Watching people discover just how game-changing the Makerspace’s resources can be for them is my favorite part of this job.

I’m a physics major and geology minor, but in my free time, I like to work on my Mandalorian cosplay or 3D print Dungeons and Dragons miniatures for my campaigns. The Makerspaces at William & Mary allow me to pursue hobbies outside of my coursework while teaching me tools and skills that I can apply in the workforce (not to mention the great coworkers!). Outside of my job, I’m a member of the rock climbing team and I play the ukulele.

In the Makerspace, I get to help others discover passions that they might not have otherwise had the ability to pursue. I get to teach, but I also get to learn. That’s a major part of the William & Mary spirit- go in with knowledge, share it, and come out having learned something new from others. And I am so grateful that I get to do that every day. Come on in, you’ll learn something too.

Mikayla works in the Makerspace Center in Small Hall, and teaches Cosplay classes and 3d printing classes in Swem Library's Makerspace. She also helps to maintain the equipment in the Swem space.