Make It Until You Make It
Fall 2020
We’ve all heard that you need to fake it until you make it. But, whether you are a musician, an artist, a designer or a change agent … you actually need to always be making. With every piece you compose, work you create, or product you make, you learn more about your craft and your own abilities. You learn WHAT you need to learn and WHAT you love. This Fall, we charged a journey of self-exploration as students brought their goals to life, got feedback from industry professionals, and prepared for their career.
Read on below to hear about the challenges and to see some of the work students did, and stay tuned for Make It Until You Make It: Spring 2020 Series! Coming soon.
Week 1: Nike Challenge (9/14 - 9/18)
We kicked off the 10 weeks of challenges with the Nike Challenge. Students dove in and began sharing their story with the motto of JUST SAY YES. We took a few moments to reflect on the last few months, as it has been no ordinary year, and students create a journey map of their last 6 months. After, they identified five people in their life to interview. People they trusted, cared about, and have a lot of love for. They interviewed their peers to learn about themselves from an outside perspective, asking two questions: 1) Tell me about the times you’ve seen me come to life; what brings me joy? And 2) Tell me about the times you’ve seen me sad, stressed, and sapped of strength. Students learned about themselves through the eyes of loved ones by practicing reflection in many forms.
Here is a reflection from one the students that participated in this challenge.
Week 2: LinkedIn Challenge (9/21 - 9/25)
LinkedIn expert and influencer, Shay Rowbottom, gave us a crash course on LinkedIn and some tips to make our profiles standout, to boost engagement and to connect with more people. Shay also hosted an office hour later in the week. The challenge: after creating and updating your LinkedIn, take a video of you introducing yourself and share it with your network. Video content can gain a lot of traction and leads on LinkedIn. Check out the profiles of our students that attended Shay’s class and click the graphic to the right to watch a video submission for this challenge.
Week 3: Descript Challenge (9/28 - 10/2)
This week’s challenge was stepping into the world of podcasting. Descript employees gave us a crash course in Descript, a collaborative audio/video editor that works just like a doc. It includes transcription, a screen recorder, publishing, full multitrack editing, and some advanced AI tools. Students used Descript to create a short podcast. They selected an interviewee whose story ignited them and sparked action. Topics ranged from racism, unsung artists, animal care, and more. Check out a view of a student’s Descript recording to the left and click on the image to visit their website. Hands down, the EASIEST way to create an epic podcast! More student podcasts can be found through Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other streaming platforms under the name Make It Until You Make It by Real Industry.
Week 4: Spotify Challenge (10/5 - 10/9)
The Spotify Challenge built on the theme of podcasting from the previous week. Students were challenged with creating a podcast about their major. Choosing a major and career path is very difficult, especially at the young age of 18. The podcasts these students created allow for other prospective students to gain an inside look into potential majors and careers. Members of the Anchor FM team via Spotify team joined us to give us a course on using Anchor, Spotify’s free podcasting app. It includes everything you need to create, share, and grow your podcast. Click on the image below to listen to some student podcasts!
Week 5: Facebook Challenge (10/12 - 10/16)
Half way through the challenges, we tasked the students with teaching something to someone else, online. Students were tasked to use either Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp to teach others. Some students taught what they’ve learned in school, such as coding. One student held a Zoom class by creating a Facebook event to get the word out and to post different tips. Another student taught cat care for cat lovers! Check out the image on the right to see Fatima’s super helpful Zoom class.
Week 6: TikTok Challenge (10/19 - 10/23)
We had another wonderful guest speaker for the TikTok challenge, @jmattmke. JMatt has surpassed 100K followers on TikTok and has content strategies and the algorithms locked down! Students got a crash course on Tiktok from JMatt and then were challenged to create an educational TikTok - whether it was teaching someone about their major, building off the Facebook challenge or an entirely new topic. Students really brought their lessons to life through creative and engaging TikTok videos. Check out some of the TikTok videos our students created below!
Week 7: Twitch Challenge (10/26 - 10/30)
The Twitch challenge was for sure a challenge. It was a platform that most students had not dabbled with before. Their task was to create a Twitch channel that supported a community or genre that was not already well-represented on the platform. We wanted students to grow their community and engage. Pictured below is one of our students and mega YouTuber, Johnny Beane.
Week 8: YouTube Challenge (11/2 - 11/6)
This challenge was super out of the box. Creating a video resume is not a very common thing, so we wanted the students to try it. This engaged their creative lens with their professional lens and provided them another opportunity to showcase themselves and stand out amongst other applicants. Check out how Ivan got creative with his video resume below.
Week 9: Real Industry Challenge (11/9 - 11/13)
The Real Industry challenge built on all the previous challenges. The task was to create a portfolio page to showcase yourself and all the cool things you created during the last 8 weeks. Check out some pages below.
Week 10: You Matter University Challenge (11/16 - 11/20)
To wrap up our time together, we checked in with ourselves. We asked the students to think about one of the most difficult moments they faced this last semester, and who supported them during this time. They were then asked to write a note of gratitude for the person that supported them and to share it with them. After sharing their gratitude, they were tasked with reflecting on the experience, how the person reacted, and how they felt sharing their gratitude with another. Below is a reflection from a student after sharing their gratitude.
