This week, we dove into some innovative concepts that focused on the power that we have as individuals to shape the societies that we hope to live in. Through leveraging our imagination, engineering skills, and engaging in some intentional practices, we can find creative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

On Tuesday, we had a thought-provoking workshop led by Hastings Golosi on the power of imagination. According to Mr. Golosi, imagination is the ability to form a mental image of something that is not yet real through the power of the five senses. To help spur our imagination, Hastings recommended a neat tool named IPAVIS, outlined below.

• Imagine a better reality: if you want your life to change, you must change your mindset, because it is often your mindset which may be limiting your success in life.
• Passion: passion and vision must sign if you want to achieve success
• Action: must be backed by passion and faith
• Visualize: see yourself in your mind’s eye as the person you desire to become
• Information: what you put into your mind determines the kind of person you become
• Surround yourself with likeminded people

Mr. Hastings also shared his personal story and recounted the imagination that he has exhibited throughout his entire life. This was such an inspirational workshop and I learned so much about resilience  and the power of mindset to shape a better future.

On Wednesday, we had some teamwork time. It was nice to catch up with everyone as it had been some time since we truly sat down as a group after the long weekend. During out teamwork, we spent some time working on the presentations for next week and finalizing some of the recommendations that we have for each of our devices.

On Thursday, we had an “Engineering a World” workshop led by Ms. Faith Mzandu, a civil engineer and changemaker who has done extensive work to advocate for women in Malawi to pursue engineering through initiatives such as WomEng. I really enjoyed hearing Faith’s perspective on innovation and grounding your work into a larger goal of improving society—Faith’s insights were incredible and very applicable to me as a young woman. After I asked Faith how she helps to instill confidence in women, and she gave an incredibly thorough response—ranging from tips on how to market yourself, network or receive mentorship, to affirmations that she recommended. It really instilled in me some reassurance that this is not a phenomenon only I feel—but that many people, including women, but also people from all walks of life, struggle with and can work through. By building upon the qualifications and skills that one has, and challenging yourself to improve, you can fight the narrative you might craft about yourself. Overall, the workshop gave me a lot to think about and many tangible ways to help build confidence—it is through hearing the stories of people like Faith and Hastings that I have so much hope in the future we are imagining and working towards.

On Friday, we heard from Professors Alick and Richard on post-graduate career options. As a rising senior who will likely be graduating in the midst of a global pandemic and recession, I was playing close attention to this workshop and really appreciated the discussion we held. They provided an overview of some of the major career paths we could take and some of the pros and cons associated with each. I particularly liked some of the ways they framed the choices that we make in relation to our careers— for instance, by reflecting on some of the various questions: ‘What do I enjoy doing? What skills do I have? What would I like to be doing in the next, say 10 years?’ Francis, Hope, and Brenald also briefly presented on the drone technology they are working on to address medical transportation in Malawi. It was very inspirational, and I am so proud that one of my teammates, Brenald, is involved in such an impactful endeavor.

On Saturday, we had a game show bonding arranged by the wonderful TA’s. During the first challenge, we received a list of ingredients from Malawian and American dishes (including chambo, nsima, cheese, Kamba puffs, and marshmallows) and were challenged to innovatively meld them into some delicious dishes. I took the charge in suggesting a ‘7-layer’ dip that included layers of chambo, nsima, cheese, and crushed Kamba puffs and a classic Texan deep fried marshmellow-nsima combo. After some bold embellishments, I am proud to say that we won! We also had a ‘talent show’ and a ‘most likely to..’ game—it was so wonderful to see all of the talent that exists across the program: from singing, drawing, fashion, speaking other languages, and having the ability to make strange noises with body parts. I was also surprised at how well we all knew each other in the ‘most likely to…’ game. It is incredible to think that even virtually, our teams have all really bonded and gotten to know one another.

Overall, this was an incredibly inspirational week– it really helped tie in some of the foundational concepts that underlie the mission of Rice 360—a focus on people, creativity, and solutions. As we press forward next week, I am excited to work on some of our final deliverables for the program and present on the work we have been doing over the summer.

 

Until Next Week,

Sana