Student Employee Finds Confidence in UTA Shop Room, Graduates with New Goals

Carissa Knitowski navigated the large equipment that fills the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Shop Room with ease and familiarity. She gestured at the green Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Plasma Cutter positioned beneath an industrial hood. 

“This is what I use most often,” she said. “I’m going to miss it, honestly.” 

The student assistant graduates this semester with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Design and Technology. Like many of the Libraries’ FabLab student employees, Knitowski came to the job first as a user of the space. 

“Originally, I was just using the Shop Room and getting trained because I love woodworking—I have a lot of experience building sets from high school, and I wanted to expand that skillset—and then after doing some trainings, they asked me if I was interested in a position there and I said yes,” Knitowski said. “[Taking the job] was just about honestly gaining more skills that would help me in my career.” 

And gain skills, she did over the next two and a half years. 

“I have learned so much—the biggest I think is digital fabrication,” she said. “This is something that we don’t really touch on in the theatre department, but if you look professionally a lot of companies are leaning more towards CNC technology.  

“I think right now a lot of educational theatre departments are lagging behind in that just because of the expense, so getting the opportunity to actually have hands-on experience running the machines and creating the files I think is really valuable.” 

In addition to technical skills, Knitowski can add expert-level people skills to her resume thanks to her time with the Libraries. 

“[I learned] how to work with people and how to handle customer service,” she said. “Plus, talking to people who don’t necessarily have the same skills that you do and figuring out how to word it in a way that everyone can understand and being able to teach others the skills that I’ve learned.” 

This job became about more than just gaining skills, however—when Carissa wanted to pursue her dreams of entrepreneurship and placed second in the Spring 2021 MavPitch Competition, she found nothing but support from her community in the Shop Room. 

“Working in the Shop Room validated my feelings of being able to be a small business owner and maker because we are surrounded by so many other like-minded individuals,” she said. “When you’re outside that environment, it’s a lot of naysayers telling you it will never work, but then when you finally come into a space where everyone shares your mindset that’s very validating and helps you gain a lot of confidence.” 

Now that she is done with Maverick Country, Knitowski is homeward bound to Houston, where she will pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Costume Technology at the University of Houston. She received a full ride to her new program, which she says she wouldn’t have applied for had she not worked in the Shop Room. 

“Before working in the Libraries, I had never really considered teaching, and then after having worked here, I found that I actually really love it,” Knitowski said. “That’s one of the big things that made me want to go for the Master’s because I want to work in a university environment—working in the Shop Room definitely completely changed the trajectory of my life, I think, in a really positive way.” 

One of her final student entrepreneurial pursuits included attending the Blackstone LaunchPad Conference in California alongside UTA’s entrepreneurship program where she was able to connect with various businesses and like-minded students. Knitowski credits this experience in large part to her employment at the Libraries. 

“All these opportunities wouldn’t have happened if the Libraries hadn’t been there to help me feel more confident in my skill set,” she said. “I just think that’s really amazing.”