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Makayla Alston (B.A. ’25) is this week’s featured alum in our new Alumni Spotlight series for the This Week at Meadows e-newsletter. Each week, a different Meadows alum will be highlighted for their accomplishments post-graduation.

Students at Meadows are encouraged to think across disciplines and apply their creativity in real-world settings. Makayla Alston, a recent graduate of the Creative Computation program, now serves as Digital Systems Coordinator at Dallas Market Center, where she bridges technology and marketing on a campus that welcomes both national and international visitors.

Alston credits Meadows with giving her both the technical foundation and hands-on experience that led her directly into the live events industry. Her interest in events began behind the scenes at the Meadows Box Office, where she worked throughout her undergraduate career supporting performances across multiple disciplines.

“My time at Meadows was the foundation for my professional aspirations,” Alston says. “Learning how to prep for events, sell tickets, man will-call and support the execution of shows across numerous disciplines gave me an interest in live events.”

That curiosity expanded through an event technology internship and remote support work for hybrid and virtual events during her senior year. After graduating in May 2025, she joined Dallas Market Center just two months later, stepping into a role that blends her creative computation training with her passion for large-scale gatherings.

As Digital Systems Coordinator, Alston serves as a liaison between IT and Marketing. She helps create and deploy marketing materials, manages newsletters and databases, maintains the DMC website and updates the DMC app during market season to support visiting trade professionals. Her coursework in HTML, object-oriented programming and user-focused design prepared her to contribute immediately.

“A vital part of computing is understanding how systems work together,” explains Alston, whose work at DMC contributes to welcoming visitors from all 50 states and 85 countries. “That foundation has helped me communicate across departments and understand both the technical and creative sides of my work.”

Now at the start of her professional journey, Alston advises soon-to-graduates to begin job searching early, lean on alumni and faculty connections, and stay confident through the uncertainties of the process.

But before entering the real world, she encourages students to take advantage of the many courses offered to ÎÞÂëרÇø students across a wide array of disciplines. In fact, Alston still references the notes she took in one of her computer science electives and has finally conquered the entirety of Wedding March on the keyboard after embarking on a year of piano on a whim during her senior year.

“College is a unique and unrivaled opportunity to explore yourself and your interests,” she says. “Classes I took outside of my major were and still are so important to me and both my personal and professional growth.”

From the Meadows Box Office to an international marketplace, Alston continues to build the kind of dynamic, interdisciplinary career she first imagined as a student.

Learn more about the Division of Creative Computation here.