The Orientation of a Homing Pigeon

Chelan and her father at the Georgia Tech bookstore

Ten of us awkwardly shuffle into Georgia Tech’s fabrication workshop. Each chooses an area of workspace and a toolbox, and on command we open our new cases. The tools feel important but foreign. I am like a toddler clumsily tearing into an expensive present. As our instructor guides our inventory of the case’s contents, we struggle to locate the scarpa knife, a sureform, and china markers. After holding up the knuckle buster, the instructor informs the class to expect to lose “a little bark” over the coming months of the program and in subsequent career years-then he chuckles.