Which class day did you gain the most traction?

I would say the class with Arthi and the class with Jonathon were some of the most impactful class days for me as far as personal growth. I would say on both those days I got some really good notes and really good insight from people with much more experience than myself. I also really enjoyed the class day that Kristina, Kaeylyn, and Katie pitched their projects as one larger project. That day there seemed to be tons of really good nuggets of information. I also really liked that we were required to take notes on the project but as a mind map. I recently was looking back on my class notes and the mind map was working to revamp my memory of the presentation despite it not being dense with words like most of my other notes.

At what point in the quarter did you feel the most empowered?

A time this quarter I felt the most empowered would certainly have to be during my VP2 project. This first project without guidance from upper E levels was a rough ride, but it ended up turning out wonderfully. I remember a specific point during that project when it became apparent that no one was going to step up and take the leadership role for that project as soon as we needed them to. It was then that I took it upon myself to really lock in and practice my leadership skills. In no time at all (especially thanks to Isaiah) we had our project rolling and back on track. I felt proud, excited, and happy I could be a positive impact on the team, and that all combined was definitely an empowering moment.

Think back to a time when you felt the most challenged in this class? How did that challenge make you feel?

The time I felt the most challenged in this class was actually the moments right before the time I felt most empowered. When we were given our VP2 at first it was very relaxing. It seemed like we had a really cool group and we thought three weeks seemed like plenty of time. However, as the due date quickly approached the stress levels increased even quicker. It was very scary, we seemed completely unorganized, and it seemed like there might be no hope. Soon after I had the opportunity to step up, we got back on track, and just like that we were no longer stressed and feeling much better about the project. I would say that challenge that I faced in this class sucked. However, I would also say that facing that challenge brought out a better version of myself. That pressure lead me to discover skills I didn’t realize I had and significantly furthered my self-discovery.

What content within the Learning Toolkit in the E&I website would you like to know more about?

At this current time, there is not anything in the Learning Toolkit I would like to know more about.

Reflect on your interview process:

• Drop a few of your questions here:

1) How do you feel about the current food waste situation? Do you notice it as a problem? Why or why not?

2) Would you be willing to purchase edible food from establishments that would otherwise get thrown out? Why or why not?

3) Would you consider the food options on campus to be satisfactory? If so, why or why not?

What were some of the answers? 

1) I notice that we waste a lot of food, especially in restaurants, but I don’t personally see it as a problem since there isn’t a food shortage at the moment that would require us to be more mindful of our wastefulness.

2) Yes because that would decrease food waste and it would provide me with more options other than on-campus food.

3) I consider them satisfactory for the purpose of being the last resort option. If you don’t have the resources to eat off-campus, such as a car, or if you have limited resources when doing so, then I think the food is fine. But if I reasonably had any other option to eat somewhere besides the dining halls, I would.

What did you learn?

We learned that most people do see food waste as a problem and believe that it would be a better use for it to get repurposed. We can also draw that most people do not understand the potential impacts that food waste can have, such as climate and economic effects.

Next, we learned that the majority of people would be willing to buy food that would otherwise go to waste. We learned that people not only would be happy with more affordable options but also with feeling like they are contributing to a good cause by reducing food waste.

After this, we learned that most people are moderately satisfied with the on-campus options but do not prefer them. We also learn that one of the main things holding people back from eating from places other than the on-campus options is not having the resources such as a car or money.

From this, we can draw that college students would be a viable customer basis to target for an anti-food waste corporation that would operate to provide students with unused additional food at a lower cost.

Do you feel like your interviews were successful? Why or why not?

I do not personally believe these interviews were a success. The interviews got to a point where they became redundant. It seemed some of the questions were wasted by asking similar questions to others. This made the interviews a very difficult source to pull from when collecting evidence which was not helpful and something I would not qualify as a success.

What would you do differently next time?

Next time I would think more deeply about the questions before creating them. Really trying to understand the path that the question will lead you on and the potential answers you might get. Then think about how those answers could assist in your venture or neglect to assist your venture. Also, I think creating interview questions solo or in small pairs rather than with a whole group might be a more effective method at least for pre-prototype questions.

If you guys would like to please let me know how your interviews went and any of your methods for success when conducting interviews!