We started with ‘Marketing Me’ right after Pre-PoLs, which was introduced to us as our exhibition project. This was different because every other winter exhibition we’ve had was either fully Humanities or a mix of Humanities and Maker. I was sort of skeptical as to how this would turn out, but I got lucky, and it turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

We started off by figuring out our values and creating ways to promote ourselves to employers. We designed logos, business cards, and resumes. Making my logo and business card was fun; we were given a lot of independence in these processes.


As for the “resume,” that was a lot more challenging. Going into this, I thought we’d be making a resume; turns out I was wrong. We were meant to make an “abridged resume” or, in other words, an “infographic resume,” which relies on visuals and less text to stand out to people.

I struggled with this task because there wasn’t a clear ‘how-to’ guide. We reviewed examples and had our tasks explained, but it still didn’t feel like enough. I also find many infographic resume features impractical, which made it hard to stay motivated. Eventually, I made something that worked, though not particularly well. 

In the end, I’m more disappointed with the process than the final product. The challenge made me freeze up and put off the work longer than I’d like to admit. I could feel the clock ticking as the deadline passed; my creativity and thought process seemed to extinguish at the worst possible moment.


With my traditional resume being on the right, and the abridged version on the left.

Once we finished up with our marketing pieces, we turned our focus to the exhibition. We were given the vision of a hybrid trade show / networking event with booths and sections. We designed our booths, engaged in conversations, categorized into groups, and practiced our handshakes. Then before we knew it, it was the day of the exhibition, and I felt SUPER unprepared. 

My original booth design felt flimsy, empty, and weak. There was a constant voice in my head asking, “Is this really how you want people to see you?”.


A rough, early schematic / sketch of my booth.

That thought, that voice, pushed me to run to my house to grab some more stuff to fill my table. I grabbed some books, an old computer kit, and my Arduino kit. Then I ran back to Seycove in the rain and immediately got to work building up my booth from the simple foundation I had previously started by adding more objects to represent my interests and passions and setting up my site.

The books reflected my love for learning, the Arduino tech showed my passion for building, and the computer kit symbolized my interest in tech, all of these built off my previous schematic.

Then the exhibition started, and it went well, a lot better than I thought it would. I presented myself well, I talked to some great people, learned a lot, laughed, and had fun. I feel like no matter how tough the task with PLP, it almost always ends up being fun in some way, although that might just be me.


I found that there was a lot of free thinking and analyzing in this project and a lot of freedom in decision-making. Which was a struggle to go along with; a lack of direction made it easy to lose momentum, but it also pushed me to take more initiative.

When it comes to how I present my passions, strengths, and learning to the world, the best way for me to do so is by being myself and figuring out who I am. Keeping authenticity is hard, especially when you’re growing as a person, but I’m at a magical time (teenagehood) where I don’t need to have myself and everything figured out yet.

This project taught me the importance of facing challenges head-on, staying authentic, and finding joy in the process. Whether it’s a logo, a handshake, or a booth, it’s about showing the world who I am, and I’m still figuring that out. It was hard, but it taught me a lot. I laughed, I almost cried, I fell, and I got back up. Pushing through tough things brings growth and often a little fun too.