Where I Want to Be

School is really picking up. I have suddenly found myself in three projects.

  1. Cities of the Future with Bill & Eli
  2. Improving Online Learning with Erika, Eli, & Krish
  3. Design for Extreme Affordability with Casey, Eleanor, & Kate

In addition, I spend time with

  1. Studio f with Camille, Erika, Eli, Harrison, & Kevin
  2. Hasten with Sheeba & Peter

Last, I am challenging myself to apply to become a course assistant for the Product Realization Lab. My background is not in making physical products. It was always a faraway dream to make physical items. I went to engineering school, thinking I’d do just that. Instead I learned about atomic scale materials phenomena. On the side, I spent most of my time on civil engineering projects – designing water systems, making asphalt in the Bronx, and mixing carbon free cement in the one and only Carleton Laboratory.

In the upcoming month, I will spend whatever free time I have focused on realizing side projects of mine. I’ll call it the ME203 Embers. This includes:

  1. Hot wire cutter
  2. Retro Nixie Tube Clock
  3. Focus Beam

My portfolio to be a course assistant will be centered around my ambition to make affordable products that reach all socioeconomic classes. My selling points are a materials science background, hands on experience with infrastructure projects, and a genuine ambition of becoming more capable to improving livelihoods. I have yet to think through what I will share about my ‘making’ side. I’ve sown large sized water dinosaurs, bound leather journals, made a zoetrope, & casted busts of people. Drawing and sketching has been my endeavor for the past two years. Learning art as an adult has changed the way I see the world on many fundamental levels – it is learning to see again.

Working with my hands helps expand my sense of what’s possible. It is a world I’ve been detached from and one I’m eager to explore. It will also help me navigate the design process with more confidence.

I’ve noticed some things about myself over the past couple weeks. I want to explore what being outspoken means to me. What do I genuinely like? I think I like the hard work of making impact happen. What is my superpower? I want to improve my rapid sketching or story carding skills for the needfinding process. I want to continue talking to all varieties of people and practicing empathy and listening.

I am incredibly happy and satisfied with where I am in life. I am doing exactly what I always wanted to do. Traversing this life journey of making impact brings me deep inner joy. Reminder to self: gratitude to the ones who instilled in you belief.