Climber Card

I believe that the effort I have put into this class is the amount of reward that I have received. The effort I have put in has allowed me to grow as a leader, thinker, innovator, and creator. I have grown immensely in terms of the 10C’s since the beginning of the year. My ability to communicate my ideas and my skillset have improved significantly. For example, this past semester, I increased my score for curiosity because we learned about SolidWorks. I really enjoyed creating my own designs, and I was curious about the features of the various tools. Learning how to do SolidWorks also added another skill to my toolbox. Like knowing how to code, SolidWorks is another software I know how to use, which is why I increased my score for capabilities and mindsets. From this past project, I raised my score in leadership because I took the initiative to research the project in-depth and focus on finishing the miro board. Furthermore, I helped everyone pick which interventions they wanted to do. This past project about creating our own organization also helped me improve my ability to understand the various systems surrounding problems and learn more about connections. I had never realized how much the issue of food deserts connected to other issues however, after researching I found that food deserts are a product of poor work schedules, lack of transportation, low incomes, poverty, fast-food restaurants, and many other underlying problems. Creating a map of our challenge, a map of the evolution of our challenge, and a map of our stakeholders has helped me improve my ability to understand the connections between grand challenges.

I believe that my engagement throughout the semester has led me to make contributions to this class. I came to every class prepared and ready to discuss. I made it a priority to read the assigned reading or watch the videos before class. Additionally, during class lectures, I stayed engaged and made sure to take notes. I am pretty certain that every person I have worked with in this class would say that I am a great group member. I consistently did my work in a timely manner and frequently took the initiative complete the work that needed to be done. For example, there were a few activities on the miro board which I completed for my group because we were short on time. Not only that, but I represented the Grandey First Honors Experience at the Western Regional Honors Conference, where I got to show off my group’s work from the first semester. I believe that being one of the first people in Grandey to go to this conference has allowed me to contribute greatly to this class.

The beginning of the year was more about understanding the readings and coming prepared to discuss what we read and provide our insights. During this time, I engaged by staying caught up with the readings and thinking deeper about the material we read. As the year went on the class became more about collaboration and creation. For example, during the wicked stories project my engagement was shown through my contributions to my group's empathy exhibit and leadership showcase. For the climber, my engagement was shown through my sketches and my ability to go out of my comfort zone. My engagement in the first part of this semester was shown through my thoroughness with my SolidWorks design, and my ability to look at various perspectives through my vignettes and redesign. Finally, my engagement during this last hike was displayed in my ability to understand the connections between systems, create my own organization, and collaborate with my peers.

Based on the skills that I have gained this semester and my engagement in this course throughout the year, I believe I have earned an A in this course. My diligence in creating my portfolio supports this because I put a tremendous amount of effort into crafting my answers to the questions: “what is good design?” and “what is innovation?”. Additionally, I believe that my leadership manifesto was presented in a unique and engaging way, and my changes to assignments clearly show my growth through the semester.