In March 2022, I attended SXSWEDU week. After an amazing session on comics in education, I walked across the hall to the d.school’s Future(s) Museum. I knew the d.school, like many, from exploring design thinking and its applications in education, but I was not prepared for what I was in for at the conference. The d.school had set up an amazing maker space that guided participants through designing for their future descendants.

My first time at UCET was in 2018. I had just gone to SXSWEDU week with my district team and had a great time meeting people and really starting to understand the bigger picture of K-12 education. Coming from the higher education world I knew that conferences and working with others were a huge part of understanding the professional landscape and being able to establish yourself as a professional. Building those connections led to other conferences and ideologies.