The wood working project increased my sense of belongingness in the Fimbel lab space overall. The wood shop is one of the rooms I have always seen but never used on campus. While I have general comfort with power tools, there are many fixtures in the space that are very unfamiliar to me. Learning about the saws, drills, and sanders, as a class helped me feel like I can use the wood shop more confidently. It can be hard to ask for help, but by getting at tutorial that did not assume knowledge nor belittle ignorance, that barrier was removed. I also found myself needing to engage active listening thoroughly given the safety elements. Because I was not scared of judgement, I felt I could listen to understand the tools and skill necessary for the project.

I also felt supported by the feedback from the Fimbel staff. While we were working they were ready and available to help when I was struggling with the saws and instruct me with the drill. The overall environment was a safe space to ask questions and I found myself feeling very open to feedback that came from a place of care.

I notice that in general, my sense of belongingness in a space is closely tied to my comfort with asking questions. I transferred in to Mount Holyoke as a Junior. Before that I had been at Wellesley. One part of academics I couldnt transfer over was my minor in elementary education. The requirements at Mount Holyoke did not align with Wellesley and was not a program of study I could complete in my last two years of college. In a recent conversation, I was encouraged to reach out to reach out to the professors here in the Psych/Ed department to see what opportunities may be available to me even if I am not in the program officially. This encouragement helped me reframe my outlook. Since I haven't felt connected to the education department here, I didn't feel that I belonged. However, the reminder that professors are often happy to support students regardless of their field of study was the nudge I needed to reach out and see what connnections I can make as I think about studying elementary education after under grad.