Getting Started

Day 1 for me was really Day 2 for most of my classmates. I was still in Cambodia for a project when classes started last week so I missed the first day. When I learned of this course opportunity I anticipated it would have a popular draw, which it did, and so considering the weight list of interested pupils I was stoked to get a spot in the class. 

Not only have I been an amateur maker, builder, sewer, creator, thinker etc. since I was little, my dabblings have been confined to my living spaces and backyard. Looking back I'm impressed how much I created with constrained resources and space. Now, a busy graduate student it's hard to squeeze in the left-brain passions of my life.

During my time conducting original research and writing my MPH thesis, I was fortunate I could reintroduce myself to the world of apparel design, a hobby I was known for as a teenager (often designing and modifying clothing I would then showcase in the hallways of my high school). In fact, when I reconnect with people with whom I've lost touch over the years many of them ask me "How's the fashion world?" 

I can't help but develop a delighted smile remembering the good old days when I had more of that in my life. I tell them I went a different path, Global Health, one I also love. But it was my thesis that made for a beautiful full-circle connection between my personal and professional experiences with people with disabilities (PWDs) and my knack for apparel.

Since the blossoming of this endeavor of first researching the experience of PWDs with clothing, I've immersed myself in opportunities to share, create, and grow this into a movement or venture of sorts. I've also become more actively engaged in being an advocate for disability and accessibility issues.

There are lots of areas on my website where I talk more about these events and projects, but soon will host all things adaptive clothing/disability apparel related on its own site that I'll link here. But the most recent exciting news I got was that I'll be teaching a course I proposed to Summer@Brown, on the intersection of Disability & Design. 

And this is part of why I see Design Studio not only a chance to reconnect with my own creativity and ingenuity but a chance to be exposed to Design concepts in a more academic setting with a great resource and design force of nature, Ian.