Transforming The Salvageable, Craft by Craft by Salome

Transforming The Salvageable, Craft by Craft by Salome - February 2026 Scholarship Essay

I rummaged through my kitchen drawer of trinkets, searching through rubber bands and coins to reach for a silver paperclip. Springing back to the living room, I handed the treasure to my dad, crouched down behind the TV.

I watched as he unfurled the shiny piece, transforming from paperclip to wire. Peculiarly, he attached it in place of our broken TV antenna. I giggled at the scene, and miraculously after a bit of twisting the channels began to whir once more.

In my family, we don’t replace, we fix, a mindset passed down from generations before us in times of scarcity. Initially, this thriftiness only brought room for comparison, especially as I began to take an interest in crafting. Gazing at the latest flashy design tools and materials online, I could only sigh at my underwhelming array of foraged pieces. However, from this frustration sprouted inspiration, and fueled by my family’s ability to thrive in shortage I realized how this skillset could be reimagined: by embracing what was around me as a challenge to abstractly thrive in my own DIY projects.

Our recycling bin became my makeshift domain, where I scavenged jars and cups for storage and hot-glued a new jewelry stand from old cardboard and plastic bits. I brought this routine into academics, and through that same drawer I discovered a mini power generator, wiring it to transform into a lightbulb-powering wind turbine simulation for my 11th grade Chemistry project.

Resourcefulness also drives how I approach my hobbies. In high school I upgraded my crafting towards jewelry-making. Frustrated by “silver” labeled jewelry being completely inconsistent in quality, I decided to reimagine my own jewelry designs, beginning with research in jewelry metals. Sourcing my own stainless steel based pieces, I created water-resistant designs that lasted longer for a much lower cost. I even began to share my designs throughout my school, alongside opening a small online storefront that ensures transparency towards the materials making up each and every piece. Craftiness has propelled me through my personal projects, allowing me to take the initiative towards problem-solving from scratch.

What was once a cultural necessity drives my creativity today. While life offers much more than a kitchen drawer, that abundance is even more of a reason to stay conscious of waste. I see scrap materials as a puzzle of its own, a test to see just how much it can rise from useless to useful, and this habit has transformed how I view both my present-day challenges and problem-solving for the future. As I enter college as a Mechanical Engineering major, I aim to carry the importance of adaptability within the field towards environmentally sustainable machine design.

My day-to-day is spent proving that even the trashiest of items can be given a new life. The amusing assortment of items I’ve revived, from understandable to straight-up ridiculous, has taught me to find new purpose in what typically goes overlooked.