Running a Make-a-thon
A small moment that made me feel like part of the design community at Waterloo
Nov 2025
2 minute read
This one was not a huge high pressure competition or a late night sprint. It was something a lot quieter, but honestly a moment that meant a lot to me.
One of my friends is the Figma Campus Ambassador and he reached out because the Makeathon was a little under staffed. They had a solid budget but not much experience hosting something like this at Waterloo. Meanwhile UW UX hosts events all the time, so the whole club jumped in fast. It turned into a really wholesome collaboration, with GBDA and UW UX coming together to support the Figma team.
One of my friends is the Figma Campus Ambassador and he reached out because the Makeathon was a little under staffed. They had a solid budget but not much experience hosting something like this at Waterloo. Meanwhile UW UX hosts events all the time, so the whole club jumped in fast. It turned into a really wholesome collaboration, with GBDA and UW UX coming together to support the Figma team.
Contributing was super fulfilling. I helped set up, helped with logistics, and filled in wherever something needed to get done. I also created the social posts from UW/UX's side to get the word out. It was fun mixing the UW UX brand with the Figma brand and trying something a bit different visually.
The part I enjoyed most was mentoring. During the mentorship session my friend handled the online teams and I worked with the groups in person. It was not a formal one on one mentorship. It was more like floating around, spending ten to fifteen minutes with each team, hearing their idea, and giving quick direction.
A lot of my feedback ended up being about storytelling. I kept repeating the same thing, especially based on my other experiences with my uXperience Design Jam. Your presentation is everything. Anyone can make screens. Not everyone can make the judges care. The story is what makes a project feel real.
The part I enjoyed most was mentoring. During the mentorship session my friend handled the online teams and I worked with the groups in person. It was not a formal one on one mentorship. It was more like floating around, spending ten to fifteen minutes with each team, hearing their idea, and giving quick direction.
A lot of my feedback ended up being about storytelling. I kept repeating the same thing, especially based on my other experiences with my uXperience Design Jam. Your presentation is everything. Anyone can make screens. Not everyone can make the judges care. The story is what makes a project feel real.
I was honestly impressed with how fast people were figuring things out. The quality of what beginners were making was wild. People were building full interactive prototypes and using the code editor inside Figma to tweak their own components. Watching a group go from an idea to something functional in a few hours was really fun.
The best part of this event was feeling connected to the design community at Waterloo. Getting to work with GBDA, helping Figma run something meaningful on campus, meeting new designers, supporting beginners. It reminded me why I like doing this. I want to help people create cool things. I want to see people get excited about design.
It was not a dramatic moment, but it did make me feel proud. Proud to represent UW UX. Proud to be someone others could come to for feedback. Proud to see how far I have come in my own design journey.
The best part of this event was feeling connected to the design community at Waterloo. Getting to work with GBDA, helping Figma run something meaningful on campus, meeting new designers, supporting beginners. It reminded me why I like doing this. I want to help people create cool things. I want to see people get excited about design.
It was not a dramatic moment, but it did make me feel proud. Proud to represent UW UX. Proud to be someone others could come to for feedback. Proud to see how far I have come in my own design journey.
Thank you.
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