These past couple months I've had the privilege of time. With that time I had the privilege of job shadowing four amazing teachers. With my notes from those job shadows, I wrote up a 9 page document with the conclusion that I do not find the job of a public school teacher to be appealing to me at this point in time. I have a deeper respect for what teachers do, and a greater understanding of what goes on behind the scenes. What convinced me it wasn't for me, however, was the lack of freedom and flexibility. With my Crate workshops, I can write up an entirely unique curriculum that doesn't have to adhere to any government standards. I can travel with that curriculum to any number of locations, certainly not limited to schools, retirement communities, offices, libraries, and churches. I can change the plans on a whim, as long as I follow the contracts I write up with clients. The freedom I want abounds in entrepreneurship, so why wouldn't I pursue it?

This is a post about naive creativity: I now know why my ideas never won any of STARTedUP's competitions. I'm writing this directly following the 2026 STARTedUP Regional finals, which I attended all 7 of, "[clocking] 1,500 miles" according to Kevin Schamel, their Director of Programming who thanked me and Mariah Wright for our dedication to the bit (because for me it was partially a bit, proving that sure, why wouldn't I go to all 7? I've got nothing better to do. *shrug*). At the last two events, I even got to sit, like a fly on the wall, in the judges room during their deliberation. So now I know where I went wrong… or blissfully right.

I have a particular approach to photos in my camera roll: I tend to take very few, and delete them within a couple weeks of taking them. Only a few will be transferred onto a hard drive and saved. This is quite opposite of the majority of Gen Z, who have extensive collections of screenshots, memes, and memories in their pocket at all times. I could try and explore the why behind my decision, but I'd rather explore some of the value that stems from the practice.

Whether it should be a collection of poetry, a novel, or even a collection of essays is my only question. But I know something needs to come of the lyrical language. My consideration of each medium is as follows:

For those not yet made aware, I am transferring to Western Michigan University for the Spring 2026 semester for my second Sophomore semester to study Paper Engineering. WMU is the school I initially intended to attend until certain circumstances sent me unregretfully to Indiana Wesleyan University. I learned more about myself, communications, and Christianity at IWU, all of which will benefit me as I now pursue a career in the paper industry.

Here are answers to the frequently asked questions I have received as I share the news.

I really love writing, if you couldn’t tell by a voluntary blog.

As a college student, part of that writing goes toward the famous “essay scholarship” format for earning money. Lucky for me, the topics are typically “write about yourself” or even better, “write about something that interests you”. Piece of cake.

When I was applying for my initial round of scholarships back in 2024, I was sure I would be an artist. After all, those scholarships would be contributing to my Bachelor’s in Studio Arts. However, plans changed and now I’m transferring to an out-of-state school to pursue paper engineering, met with new incentive to apply for more scholarships.

Yesterday I saw something inspiring. Or, more intriguingly, I didn't see something, and that absence itself was what was inspiring.

Sam Blakely is a graduating student of IWU's MLLC, who presented his senior capstone project over a collection of poetry using an experimental form he dubbed "Silent! Verse".

I am a HUGE fan of this form, not only because he paraphrased Syndrome from the Incredibles when presenting it (we'll get to that shortly) but also because…

Similar to the formation of volcanic islands, the initial formation of an interpersonal island looks impressively disruptive. We think of communication as something that "just happens" and most people not studying it as intently as I (Joshua Steely, a Sophomore Human Communications Major) are often led to believe there is little reason to change "how they talk" or interact with others. That's just "how they are". Anything further can be regarded as "manipulative" or "ill-intended" because it doesn't seem to follow this natural flow of human communication. But we all learn how to interact from somewhere, and after pausing to consider these somewheres, most people would quickly admit their imperfections. Were your parents perfect communicators? Your teachers? Your friends or lovers? Seldom do they come close. Therefore the unnaturalness of observing our communication and ways to improve is crucial for our betterment. Sometimes you need an explosion.

Maybe you've noticed a lull in posts. So have I. I'm not pleased with it for one major reason: I'm still writing a bunch! I'm just not writing a bunch about art. And I've framed this blog in such a way that I consider it to be an "art blog" and not a general "whatever" blog. That's mainly to refrain from it ever becoming an outlet for gossip or personal details/rants. I don't think the switch I'm wanting to make will violate that. I want to start posting my writing about Communications. 

"That was a lovely introduction," I started, regarding the words my connection said to the group before I got up to address them, "I'd love to get to know all of you–just a little bit–via a show of hands for just a couple of questions." a couple of nods.

"First, do any of you like art?" and every hand raised.

"Okay, fantastic. Do any of you play an instrument?" A few hands…

"Yeah… instruments actually have nothing to do with this but that's good to know!" a couple chuckles and some smiles. Great start.

"And the last question, are any of you interested in art lessons for your kids?" Only a couple hands went up. That's good to know.

"Alright, that's okay!" and then I went on to explain two things, starting with what people can gain from art and ending with Crate logistics. This first portion I've boiled down to three concepts (though I know from experience there is a WORLD you can learn from art and design). The three are as follow:

This summer I had the privilege of working for 7 weeks at a little church camp called Camp Challenge in Bedford, Indiana. It offers 5 day overnight camps for 1st graders up through highschoolers, with attendances ranging from 50-120 in a week. As a member of the summer staff, I resided in a cabin with 8-12 of the campers each week and guided them through the planned activities and discussions (alongside co-counselors). Luckily for this blog, there was some art! Not a lot, but enough for me to mention it. But of course, alongside mentioning the art projects I think it's worth noting how different age groups interacted with both me and each other. 

I wish I had taken better notes, but the hectic schedule kept me on my toes both physically and mentally, so here is my attempt at coherent thought.

How much instruction is too much?

"How do these bricks look?" she asked for the 5th time. "Gosh I don't know, probably exactly like the last four groups you painted, which I said looked great!" I wanted to retort. But THAT, ladies and gentlemen, would've been rude of me. So I think I said something like, "I'm sure they're just as good as the first side–I trust your artistic ability." 

On the drive back from that project I had to pause and think. How much help is too much? and how little is too little? I don't think I have an answer yet, but here are some ramblings.

That's a wrap on the first ever 6 Cardboard Club meetings! I'm exhausted. Drained. And yet so energized and renewed. I'm ready for Fall.

The whole experience felt similar to my workshops with NMPL in that it was preparing me for something greater. Yes, I put all that I knew into each series of workshops, but now I know so much more because of them. This post is an attempt to recap my progress and look to the near future.

I've been thoroughly unable to write down my thoughts about the 4th, 5th, and now 6th Cardboard Club Meetings for weeks now. Whether other things came up, or I sat down to write, only to meet frozen fingers, nothing has been typed until now. I'm almost happy I waited (even though it's been driving me insane) because now I have plenty to talk about…

A hobbyist’s observation of priority management.

yes. I am. Quite pleased, in fact.

The first meeting of the Cardboard Club at College Wesleyan Church through WonderSpace (henceforth reffered to as just “Cardboard Club”) was a massive success. It was a “skills workshop” highlighting the four major tools I use in my cardboard endeavors, and I’m happy to say I neither underprepared nor overprepared! I somehow hit it right on the spot with two double-sided documents, including a thorough agenda, and a trifold they could take home and reference…