Hello! My name is Kirsten.

I am currently a senior at Sam Houston State University, about to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice with a minor in sociology! This summer I was in an exchange program with the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

I currently work in the heart of Minneapolis at the Youth Connection Center serving police-involved youth who may be in need of shelter, case management, or immediate crisis intervention.

On the side, I sell clothing on Depop.

All of this requires an absolute mastery of time management, balancing work, life, school, and work again.

I’ve been taught from a young age to repair, not discard, so I often seek out repair advice on YouTube to learn for myself. I have done countless repairs and replacements on my car, which is empowering in its own way (and has certainly has saved me from getting up-sold air filters and other things I “need” at a proper shop.) Also, in a different sense, I repair clothing on an almost daily basis to restore it to a sell-able condition for my Depop shop. I source from a rag house and so often will I find clothing that has been discarded for having minor holes, stains, and pilling which I’m able to remedy with ease and turn a profit on.

While living on campus at Sam Houston, I volunteered with the counseling center’s Helpline— providing a listening ear and solid advice to those in distress. I was also in Active Minds, which is a club dedicated to suicide prevention and awareness.

This project will serve to benefit the repair community, furthering iFixit’s mission while also serving as an excellent application for my technical writing ability.

Here’s a photo of my cat!