COMMUNITY STORIES: HANNAH CONTARDI
It’s the type of place where everyone knows everyone else, and so there’s a good chance you’ll run into someone you know at the grocery store. Naturally, growing up here meant I went through elementary school and half of middle school with a group of people that I eventually got to know really well.
When I moved out to Las Vegas in 7th grade, suddenly I lost all those people and struggled with loneliness throughout the rest of middle school.
The goal was that I could take an active approach and shape my clubs in a way that would hopefully prevent others from feeling how I did. That mentality shift proved extremely beneficial to everyone around me.
In high school, I became the Vice President of my school’s volunteering chapter along with the President of our club dedicated to showcasing specific technical skills. I got to know the people around me, and we excelled together as I strengthened my ability to lead and they grew in creativity. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere again, and I knew that taking an active role through my leadership positions was the cause.
I tried a couple clubs at first (including an Italian club, a club for professional female networking, and even a medieval sword fighting club), but none of those really resonated with me. Then, when I was creating a birthday gift in our campus maker-space, I saw a flyer for Student-Made.
Before I even looked into it, I just had an instantaneous feeling that told me “this is the one.”
After focusing my first semester completely on crafting, it felt almost inevitable that I’d take a leadership position helping other creators as an Events and Partnerships manager.
The creators at my branch are absolutely extraordinary (shoutout to the University of Arizona creators!), and they’re far better at their craft than I could ever be. As just a creator, I’ll admit that I felt jealous of their artistic abilities, and part of me only saw them as competition.
But, as an Events and Partnerships manager, I can now say that I feel nothing but pride when one of our creators does really well because it means we set their products up in a great place at a great time. Any money they make is a win for our entire branch, and it took me stepping back from my role as a creator to see that.
They’re some of the most ambitious, creative, kind, talented, and disciplined people I’ve met.
More than anything, I want to take this community with me when I graduate. I know we’re going to disperse all around the world after we finish our studies here, but I want to share their success with them. When any of them goes on to do something extraordinary, I want to excitedly turn to the people next to me and say “I knew that person in college!!” As for what I’ll give, I want our creators to know that they got their start with us. I’m proud of our entire branch, and I want to be a big reason why our creators see themselves as a success.
