October 2022 Newsletter

Meet our Student Leaders

Supporting our 85 first-year students this year are our five Peer Mentors and our new Student Programming Board! Get to know our RAs and Programming Board below then scroll down for an interview from one of our peer mentors. Stay tuned to our future newsletters for more interviews from our Peer Mentors! 

About the RAs

Molly: Hello! My name is Molly, and I am so happy to be one of the RAs for Living ArtsEngine this year! I am a junior at the Stamps School of Art & Design with a focus in graphic design and 2D animation. I joined LAE my freshman year, and I can’t help but keep coming back to such an awesome program. Outside of my time as an art student and RA, I enjoy watching documentaries, listening to music, attempting to find the world’s worst dad jokes, and laughing way too hard at said dad jokes. I’m excited for this year! It’s going to be suite! (Get it? Like the Creative Suite?…I’ll end this little intro now before I embarrass myself further.)

Forrest: Hey everyone! I'm a Junior studying Electrical Engineering and I'm one of the LAE RAs this year. When I'm not studying, I love biking down by Huron River, going to the gym, eating Mexican food, and listening to music. I've recently had this urge to travel abroad, so hopefully I'm able to do some of that once I graduate. I've had a great time getting to meet the people of this community so far and I look forward to getting to know people even better.

Parker: Hi! My name is Parker and I am one of the RAs for Living ArtsEngine! I'm a Junior in computer science at the College of Engineering. I'm interested in software, game, web, app, development, and machine learning in the CS area. Outside of that, I am really into soccer--I love to watch and play, Rubik's Cubes, travel, cook, bake, and watch Movies! One thing that I'm excited for is winter on campus. I'm looking forward to building a giant snowman!

About the Student Programming Board

Jack: Hello! I’m Jack, and I’m one of the students on the LAE programming board. I’m a Junior in voice performance and choral education, and I was a peer mentor last year. My work focuses on uplifting underrepresented music. I love hiking, games, rocks, and singing (duh). I'm excited to be a part of LAE for yet another year!

Zia: Hey, I'm Zia Zhao, 1/4th of the Programming Board, and former mentor/mentee. I am a senior at the Stamp school of Art and Design, with a minor in creative writing. After I graduate, I'm going to be a storyboard artist for animated films and TV, with the eventual goal of founding my own studio. Outside of class, I'm a tour guide, and I like weightlifting and sleeping.

John: Heyo, my name's John and I'm a 5th-year undergrad in the School of Info (UX) and SMTD (Trombone)! I'm very much excited to be on this year's LAE Student Programming Board, as I've been a passionate member of the community since I got to UMich, doing all kinds of fun stuff like being a peer mentor, helping run the peer mentor program, hosting fun events like Tea Time, and just getting to know the lovely people this community always attracts! Outside of LAE, I've founded a student org (Michigan Open UX), I'm a proud resident of a housing cooperative, and I love learning about anything and everything from geopolitics to macroeconomics, linguistics and food! Looking forward to seeing y'all around!

Maija: Howdy, I'm Maija! I'm a Junior on the pre-med track pursuing a degree in Biochemistry, and I'm a member of the Student Programming Board. My hobbies include needle felting, fiction podcasts, and being way too passionate about singing synthesizers. I look forward to a great year with you all!

Program Highlights

Our first workshops and Community Meeting! 

Living ArtsEngine students have been busy exploring new materials, forms of art, and facets of making! Our weekly workshops have included a glow-stick performance led by the student org Photonix, an AR poster-making session led and hosted by the student org Shift Creator Space, a DnD character building workshop led by Peer Mentor Ian and more! 

We also had our first community meeting led by SMTD Professor of Dance, Amy Chavasse in the new Dance Building on North Campus. This was a fun way to explore a physical form of expression. 

Student Interviews

I also knew that Michigan was a huge place and it was going to take a while to find people that have the same interests as me, so to being able to join a living and learning community really gave me the opportunity to find friends. It really helped me settle down and find my feet."

What types of creative work do you like to do?

A: "I used to love theatre, I was a part of the musicals, I love to draw, to paint, I play instruments, I sing a little and I love poetry - spoken word. I just love everything, even the things I'm not even necessarily good at. I just like to learn and observe and watch and I'm amazed at the opportunities I'm afforded here at Michigan."

Q: What are you looking forward to most this year?

A: "In general, I'm really looking forward to really getting into the Michigan culture. I've been to a few football games already - those are very crazy - and just being a part of the Michigan community. Specifically with Living ArtsEngine, I'm really interested in the opportunities Living ArtsEngine has. The workshops and different things. I know we went downtown and we got to see the different things available to us, and I think I'm really excited to get to try something out that I'd never get the opportunity to try elsewhere."

Q: What is one fun fact about you that you'd like the community to know? 

A: "I have a dog, her name is Ciara. She's a Jack Russell mix, so she's taller than an average Jack Russell, but we don't know what she's mixed with. She has the energy of a Jack Russell, but also longer legs, so you cannot stop her when she's on her way - she's gone. I miss her every day that I'm here."

Q: Has your experience in Living ArtsEngine impacted the way you approach your major?

A: "I think it has. The way it has impacted my major is it’s making me more involved. In high school, I wasn’t as prone to taking a leadership role and getting involved in the community because I was nervous and what have you. Because I’m a peer mentor now, it’s pushing me to new heights and helping me interact with people better and communicate better. It’s really helping me get involved in my major and make connections."

Q: What is a favorite memory from being in Living ArtsEngine last year?

A: "My favorite memory last year was when my team worked together for the Makeathon first semester. We made a commercial about bee drones, which was absolutely just a comedic bit, but it was so much fun to make the video even though we were up for a very long time working on it. It was just so much fun and I would love to do it again."

Alex Philpott is currently based in Los Angeles, where his job allows him to develop the technology used to send people to space. Alex says that for him, this job is very much oriented around web design. He got both of his degrees at the University of Michigan, and was involved with the first and peer mentor programs in LAE.

Looking back on these years, Alex says “It certainly made my 4 years at Michigan a lot richer and I made lifelong friends.” He still keeps in touch with the people he met in our program, and was recently able to connect with some fellow LAE alumni in Los Angeles. Alex, like many other Living ArtsEngine alum, found the community aspect to be the most memorable part of his time here. He particularly remembers his first football game with Living ArtsEngine friends as a freshman. This was a new and confusing experience that was made into a fun weekly tradition by the LAE community. Alex shared another favorite memory as well: his winning freshman- year CCP, which took place in Minecraft. They created an interactive mountain- climbing experience that allowed players to explore the journeys of others on their way to the summit.

Alex has found that many of the creative and collaborative skills learned here with Living Arts translate directly into his work in mission operations. Such extensive projects require that he collaborate with many different people in many different specialties to create the tools needed for the mission.

As for the future, Alex is not totally sure what is in store, but hopes to spend a little more time in LA, then eventually move back to his home state of Colorado someday.