USD Magazine Summer 2019

here’s a coziness factor that’s unmistakable. On this particular afternoon, it’s [ u n r u f f l e d ] Zen and the serendipitous art of finding your bliss GETTING MESSY T with our hands — even if it’s not perfect —we’re proud, because we made it.” by Julene Snyder

girl. “I spent every summer craft- ing and doing art with my grand- mother. She really loved every kind of art.” Those memories still resonate. “When you spend time with someone making something, you form deeper memories.” Her path to the University of San Diego was serendipitous. “I accidentally logged into USD’s website when I had been looking for UCSD’s site,” she says with a melodic laugh. “I saw that it was Catholic and decided to visit cam- pus.” After a tour, she was con- vinced USD was the place for her. After graduation, Sanders — who earned her degree in molec- ular biology — had assumed she’d go directly to med school. “There was a transformational moment when I’d gotten my MCAT scores, and I thought, ‘Now I can go to whatever med

then kneels beside another who’s tracing her stencil with the glow- ing wood burning tool. While the various words are simple, they’re deeply personal: Thrive. Wonder. Vibrant. Blessed. Warrior. Sanders is in her element. She loves working with her hands, and has given a lot of thought to how now, in particular, people crave tactile sensations. “Tech has hurt us in a lot of ways,” she says, after attendees have scattered, each cradling their own personalized succulent box. “When we make something

That’s the point of Mint Studio, which offers workshops, retreats, experiential outings and more. Lately, Sanders is getting a lot of work from organizations seeking team-building experiences for their employees. “They get how important it is to invest in their people and for them to have connection time away from the needs of the office,” she says. Making art has been a part of Sanders’ life since she was a little

evoked by the pleasing smell of burning wood and the sense that there is no earthly need to hurry. Around a long table, some people are planting succulents, others stenciling an “intention word” onto boxes before moving on to wood burning. Jayme (Miller) Sanders ’04 (BA) is serene as she interacts with a few dozen members of a corpo- rate human resources team. She chats with one for a moment,

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