The STEAM festival was definitely better than I expected. It was interesting to see how different all the Seminar 1 classes were. Our class focused on different themes in A Chorus of Stones and we all presented different collages that explained that theme. Everyone that came by our table was extremely impressed by how we were able to connect Robert Rauschenberg’s focus on collage in our analysis of the book. While our class did this, other classes from different campuses focused on self-expression, areas in NYC etc. An extremely thoughtful project that I saw was from City College, where the whole class created a book. Each week, the students would post pictures that answered a specific question or had a specific theme. At the end of the semester, they each picked the picture that represented themselves the most and put it in the book. It was interesting to see how different the pictures were, ranging from selfies to action shots and nature. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Makerspace in the lobby. Although my appointment time was short, I was able to make a pin. I felt like this was a nice addition to the festival, and something unique aside from the presentations. Additionally, each student received a little notebook to take notes and collect stamps. In order to get a stamp, the ITFs would ask questions based on the room that we were in It was nice to see how involved the ITFs were in asking questions. It showed how much they care and I was grateful for that. Overall, the STEAM festival was a nice way to get Macaulay students together and have a nice learning experience.
