This article discusses how students in a college-entry-level CAD course researched four generations of their family histories and documented cultural and symbolic influences within their family backgrounds. AutoCAD software was then used to manipulate those cultural and symbolic images to create the design for a multicultural area rug. AutoCAD was also used by all the students to capture slides of their CAD design progression as they manipulated these images into the final area-rug layout. By introducing an aspect of self-identity (personal history) into a CAD course, students challenged themselves much more than in a similar assignment that did not include the element of personal history. Their technology skills improved exponentially due to increased time spent on the project and personal demands on limited skills beyond current knowledge. Furthermore, student feedback and assessment from the course indicated an increase in awareness of multicultural issues and acceptance of others.