classroom home · jadexzhao · 龙 · dragon · @zhao.langxi

Jade Zhao · leave a footprint · try something real

leave a footprint

A dare list from the Gelarden Matrix slide. Check a box. Feel the win. Not a resume trail. Can’t ELI5 the dare? Shrink it. One box today is enough. School-day face: @zhao.langxi.

Quick start

  1. What this is: a bucket list in three groups · Experience, Build, Share.
  2. What to do next: check one real box today · keyboard works.
  3. My notes: each trail stop keeps a “my print so far” line under it.
Gelarden Matrix lecture slide with a right-side bucket list ending in Leave a footprint
Source slide · Gelarden Matrix. Right column is the leave-a-footprint list below.

Bucket list · claim a print

Exact wording from the slide. Tap a box. Watch your count climb. Real checkboxes · keyboard operable.

Experience
Build
Share

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  1. 1

    Travel

    Go somewhere that stretches your map.

    done my print so far: a whole semester at Complutense in Madrid, Spring 2026 (IU Overseas Study). Path notes on junior · Madrid.

  2. 2

    Pick up other skills

    Learn something outside your major comfort zone.

    done my print so far: learned to build websites that work for everyone, including people with disabilities, learned the coding languages behind modern sites and apps, and learned how to teach all of it kindly.

  3. 3

    Build a brand

    Make a clear public signal of who you are and what you ship.

    done my print so far: Handshake influencer with career content that reached 150K+ followers, plus two public sites, same me: jadexzhao (龙 · dragon, builder) and matchaxmoxie (凤凰 · phoenix, cookie classroom).

  4. 4

    Journal

    Write it down so the path is visible later.

    in progress my print so far: a public path record instead of a private diary: freshman through senior notes and this footprint trail.

  5. 5

    Rescue dogs

    Care for something that needs you back.

    done my print so far: foster fail, then forever: Nova stayed.

  6. 6

    Find someone who doesn’t look like you....

    Widen the circle. Learn from a different story.

    in progress my print so far: a semester living in Madrid and a mixed IU community keep the circle wider than the one I grew up in. Still listening.

  7. 7

    Create a website, your own QR code, domain.

    Own a corner of the web you can point people to.

    done my print so far: two live sites shipped, jadexzhao and matchaxmoxie, plus an online-ordering page for the family restaurant. Corners of the web I can point people to.

  8. 8

    Write an article

    Put an idea in public words.

    in progress my print so far: public write-ups on how I work and web accessibility. A longer, proper article is still cooking.

  9. 9

    Start a business or non-profit

    Build something that helps people beyond your homework.

    in progress my print so far: shipped an online-ordering page for the family restaurant, and I build accessible sites for ServeIT, IU’s nonprofit tech clinic. Helping, not just homework.

  10. 10

    Give a speech, sing a song, write a poem, play an instrument somewhere other than your apartment.

    Share art or voice in a room that is not only yours.

    done my print so far: gave a speech at the IU Leadership Conference, and taught Scratch and web workshops in rooms that were not my apartment.

  11. 11

    Leave a footprint

    The whole list points here. Make a mark that outlasts one semester. Twin sites if you want a classroom print: matchaxmoxie and jadexzhao.

    done my print so far: the marks I am proud of: Handshake reach, the IU Leadership Conference speech, ServeIT builds, and this Scratch classroom archive left open for the next student.

Want campus traditions instead (Sample Gates, Little 500, Farmers’ Market)? That is a different list on campus survival · IU bucket list (Archival · Year ’23).