Last Monday, they sat there, in a corner of the co-working space: the third-year set design students from Nimeto. Ready for the kick-off of our joint project: building four experiential objects for this place. Nine creative minds looked at me, each with their own perspective. Some more subdued, others an energy bomb. Fashion statements next to comfortable fits. But all radiated something that I myself used to miss: the safety of being yourself.
I was one of those students who sat in the corridor more often than in class. Not because I was cheeky (well, sometimes a bit), but because I didn't understand the system. I asked too many questions, was too critical. School felt like an itchy wool jumper: I couldn't wait to take it off at home.
In retrospect, it turned out that precisely what teachers found difficult about me was my strength: seeing how something could be done better, building on an idea, making connections that weren't there yet. You understand, when I received the first critical questions from the Nimeto students, my heart made a jump.
During the kick-off, walking through the premises, I saw nine young people with a good foundation laid at an education where they feel seen. They dare to express themselves, in a respectful and equal manner. With a great basic attitude: listening, questioning, inquiring.
Yes, that here, from Wonders of Work, we make space for these set builders, that makes my inner critic Chris pretty happy. That we hear and see them, that they have a voice. Because I know: we are building more than four objects of experience. This is the beginning of stories that keep growing. And of a new generation that dares to make space: for itself and for others.
