After one grueling year of graduate school, I’ve decided to drop out and join the circus.
Just kidding. I’m not dropping out, BUT I am “joining the circus.” I’m excited to announce that I’ve been awarded the Creative Good Fund, a scholarship for ETC students to work with a non-profit organization of their choice for the summer.
I’ve chosen to work with the Two Bit Circus Foundation in Los Angeles. 2BCF is “a nonprofit educational organization designed to cultivate the next generation of inventors, advance environmental stewardship, and spur community engagement.”
2BCF and I go way back to my senior year of college. For my senior thesis, I designed a sustainable after-school STEAM program that inspires interests in the sciences by encouraging creativity, communication, and collaboration. I was fascinated by the idea of using art to bring people into STEM. I loved art, science, and education, and sought a way to combine all of my passions together.
In my early research, I came across this Ted talk by Brent Bushnell and Eric Gradman, the co-founders of Two Bit Circus. I was hooked. This was everything that I believed in (but articulated much better), and exactly the type of work that I wanted to do.
Fast forward four years later, I’m walking into their new headquarters in Downtown LA at their very first micro-amusement park while on a company visit with my program. One conversation lead to another, and now I will be in LA for the summer, reimagining carnival games with new technology for their upcoming STEAM Carnivals. Full circle, huh?
I really can’t thank the Creative Good Fund, the ETC, and the 2BCF enough for providing me with this amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to see what I will create this summer. Hoping to make 2015 Daryl proud.