final reflection.
this was an interesting two marking periods. I learned a lot: about myself, the design process, our education system. We started the year with our classroom design, and honestly, I think I enjoyed that more than the second half of the year. It felt more structured, and we had an actual end goal and an actual deadline. There was constant feedback, and we were always working. We were able to change the design at least a few times a week, and we refined it as much as we could. And we were successful in the end, so thatās a plus. :)
The second half of the class was a lot more independent learning based. I worked with Irina and Rachel on COMMotion, but to be honest, I felt like I wasnāt doing much, and maybe I shouldāve picked a different project but also helped Irina and Rachel. What ended up happening was Rachel helped a lot with the art stuff, and obviously Irina was running the whole thing. I dance, and I was dancing in an act, and I helped out when they needed me, but to be totally honest, there wasnāt much I could do. I ended up being the designated blog writer because the others were too busy to, understandably, and I cut out snowflakes. I really really enjoyed dancing in the showcase, but I was definitely more of a performer than anything else.Ā
Iām working with an organization called My Little Patient which is based in D.C. as a student intern. Weāre working on organizing fundraisers for aĀ āKid Doctorā Program which is a hygiene education program for students in third-world countries. Maybe working on that as my project would have been a more productive use of my time? I donāt know. I stuck with COMMotion because weād already gotten so far, and I didnāt want to agree to work with them and then let them down.
All in all, I learned a lot about design in this class: the process, the mindset. But I also learned a lot about humanity. I had to learn to work as a team, even when I wasnāt sure I was even important. I had to learn to put my own little qualms aside and collaborate with other people to accomplish a communal goal. I learned about personal responsibility and timelines, and I learned that you canāt always do what makes you completely happy, because the common good usually trumps that. Compromise is key, I guess. If I were to take the class again, I would, but I would work on a project thatās more self-satisfying and where I could contribute more than blog posts.Ā











