It was 8th grade when Beckett Munson arrived to NuVu High School, at the height of the pandemic. Having completely disconnected from his education up to that point, he had shut down—putting the brakes on his learning—and yearned for something more, something deeper.

“I remember feeling really stagnant, super contained,” he recalls. “I was simply looking for a way to let my interests flourish. I felt like I had so much more potential that I didn't have an outlet for.”

A family friend mentioned NuVu to Beckett and suggested that he and his family visit Exhibition Night, where students showcased their studio-based projects.

“I immediately fell in love with NuVu,” he says. “And the rest is history. I just loved NuVu. I still do.”

Reflecting on his time at NuVu, Beckett says it's simply the quality of experience that has kept him engaged in his learning.

“You get to do a million different things in a week. It's just a complete shotgun method of finding subjects that interest you, that excite you,” he says. “As a teenager, you're just such a sponge for information and it's all new and exciting—the raw number of new experiences you could have in a week is unbelievable.”

One of the more dynamic examples of design studio work Beckett has completed during his time at NuVu was working with the city of Cambridge to design modular shade pavilions for their new public patio initiative. He says two days later he was fermenting pickles and making risotto. “Just the breadth of things you're doing in such a small amount of time alone is so fun,” he says. “You just dive head first, straight into it.”

And what about impact? “When I think about the projects that were most transformative for me, I think about working with a Montessori school designing learning materials for their classroom,” says Beckett. He says that both the experience working with educators and fully embracing the Montessori learning philosophy from a user-centered design perspective was transformative.

Another metamorphic experience came when Beckett was new to NuVu, and was paired with a more experienced senior. “It wasn’t just seeing their skill and learning from them up close and personal, but also the fact that they would turn to me and ask me questions— when I was just a 14-year-old. It set a level of respect for my ideas and it established an equal playing field that said while I'm here, not only are my ideas going to be valued, but I have a responsibility to my project and my partners.”

When asked what skills he felt NuVu helped grow during his time at NuVu, Beckett says that his advanced shop skills have empowered him to make just about anything. “Having that confidence is super transformative,” he says. “My public speaking skills have also grown—I'm now able to stand in front of a group and communicate my ideas clearly.” One skill he didn’t expect to improve upon was his sketching skills. “To take something from your head and put it on paper can be frustratingly difficult, and I now find that truly valuable.”

Beckett received an overwhelming response to his college applications—he got into his dream school and secured an incredibly generous scholarship package. “Literally, none of it would've been possible without NuVu, for so many different reasons,” he shares. “Not only the opportunity to build a competitive portfolio, which put me miles ahead of students that are not coming out of this type of education, but also, NuVu has given me a roadmap and a peek into my future. I feel like they have given me the tools to draw my own map for my future.”

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