As my Masters education comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on this past semester. In many ways, I think it was my best one at CMU. I wouldn’t trade anything for what I learned in prior semesters, but this one just felt more rewarding overall.

One reason was probably the high emphasis on service this semester – which was not intended, but I’m glad it worked out the way it did. In my International Marketing class, we had a service project where we worked with Global Links, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit that collects surplus medical supplies from hospitals and distributes them to third world countries who desperately need the supplies. It’s a pretty important mission, and one that seems obvious but doesn’t readily come to mind when one thinks of what typical non-profits do.

Representatives from the class presented in a Pittsburgh-area Service Case Competition, and we came in second place! The prize was $500 that was supposed to go to our university, but CMU isn’t exactly hurting for cash, yeah? The class decided to give it to Global Links instead. That was pretty awesome. Each student also got free passes to attractions in the Pittsburgh area, including the Pittsburgh Zoo, the Warhol, the Conservatory, and the Mattress Factory.

Now hmm, what have I done with the Mattress Factory lately?

Oh right. The skit.

You might recall that the client in my Designing for Service class was the Mattress Factory, a contemporary art museum in Pittsburgh. The above picture is from our final presentation – we were showcasing the use of our proposed new Visitor’s Guide, the Factory Deck.

It turned out to be pretty fun, and it seemed to be a hit with the Mattress Factory folks. If you see something like this in the immediate future, you know where it came from!

So right, really long tangents to get back to the reflection part. I think it’s almost a shame that I completely missed these opportunities – there’s something really rewarding and educational about working for a non-profit that you don’t get in however many industry projects (or quasi-industry-but-really-just-CMU projects). Especially as busy Masters students, I think it’s easy to forget everything that’s happening in the world. These projects really helped me to keep perspective.