First off, WOW! this first week is a lot! I am stoked to be a part of this community and can’t wait to meet everybody! nobody here knows anything about me so I figured I should tell you a little about myself swell in this post! My names Aidan Adams and I’m a freshman and WWU. Some of my hobbies include Magic and Cardistry (click on it if your confused what it is). I love the outdoors and hiking! And I’ve got the worlds cutest cat named Squirt!
What do you think of when you read our “Culture of Belonging” Statement?
Judging by our first day of class it seems like the culture of belonging was taken very seriously. to be honest this is the first class I have had my microphone on for all my college career, and its because of the promise you all have made to make sure we all fell that feeling of belonging. Im super excited to feel welcome in this community and learn about myself alongside peers.
What sparks do you have and how are they inspiring your work?
Keep in mind I’m not quite sure what a spark is… but one of my passions is playing cards. Over the years I’ve collected over 500 decks of cards and amassed a pretty nice collection. as-well as collecting playing cards I also flip them! with limited releases and quick fingers I’m able to sell the decks for usually round 30$ each when I buy them for 15! I could go on for hours talking about playing cards but I won’t make y’all read that 🙂 Another spark or interest of mine is streetwear, but more specifically the companies that are really pushing limits of what we know clothes to be. one company in particular is Brain Dead, which is an organization of designers. Brain dead has also raised thousands of dollar for a multitude of different organizations.
As it goes for the other questions posted I feel as im not prepared to answer them quite yet as im not fully sure how this class works yet 🙂
-Aidan
Aidan! So glad that you’re joining this community, you will come to find that it is unlike ANY other at Western. Very open and creative, but also focused on evidence-based empathy collection, and also wanting to actually building traction in order to bring real things into the real world. So as an E1 I know this community and whole process is a lot to take in, but that’s normal and a good thing!!! You actually never stop being a little overwhelmed, but that’s where we should be is on the edge of certainty and uncertainty because we should always be growing. If you’re ever too far on the uncertainty side of things, reach out to anyone on teams, we’re all here to support one another in this community! Super super loved hearing your interests in Cardistry and Magic and pushing limits in streetware! A spark is exactly what you identified, just what excites you, lights you up, what things draw you… Tune into what deeply interests&drives you already, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel 🙂
I don’t want to come off like thinking I know anything cause I don’t. But if there’s one thing I can tell you I’ve learned so far in E&I, it’s to start interviewing people as much and as deeply as possible to understand and find the Truth of what they need, want and struggle with. See because we come up with ideas in our head, but it’s important to not let that cloud our interview. Figure out the problem you’re tryna solve and become SOLUTION AGNOSTIC. Go and empathise with your customer and really really LISTEN, and truly hear what they really want, not what you want them to want. Once you develop your idea, you will gather specific feedback through post-prototype interviews, in these you explain your offering to people. But in pre-prototype interviews, become solution agnostic to discover the truth of the situation 🙂
Hey Aidan,
OH MY GOD, you really do have the world’s cutest cat! That’s amazing! Also, can you do a magic trick for us in class? Or hell even just for our Quad? That would be epic. You figured out what the term “spark” means right away which is awesome. One of these days I would love to see some of your favorites from your card collection!
Best,
Zosia
Oh my goodness! I am so excited to have you here! This community will not disappoint, but you will need to put in as much as you want to get out. Hearing about your passions and the connection you have to your hobbies is incredible. I hope to learn more cool facts and interests that you have over the course of the quarter.
I would like to say that I think my cat is cuter (you can see her in my videos). But I will agree that Squirt is adorable. I cannot wait to see more of them. I am excited to see where this leads and how we connect (via cats or passions). Let us know more about the projects that you are working on as well, so that we can help in any way we are able. (Such as interviews, connections, or knowledge specialties.)