Blog #6: Individual Prompts–

Give three examples of something very interesting you learned from a friend that was a completely alien concept to you. 

3. Coming from San Francisco and having lived there my whole life, it was a complete culture shock coming to Bethlehem for the first time. I was exposed to so many different types of people that I have never met before. Something very interesting that I learned while talking to people here was that the states on the east coast are so small compared to California. In California, it takes 6 hours to get from San Francisco to Los Angeles while here you can go from New York City to Philly in a matter of 3 hours, passing through 3 whole states. 
4. I am a first generation Chinese American and my boyfriend is white. My parents are divorced and my childhood was not the best and somehow all my friends I had growing up also did not have the best family life. My boyfriend’s family is the first family I have ever known who actually enjoy spending time together and they have weekly video calls and family game nights. I used to think that families where the parents were not divorced or families that were happy did not exist until I met him.
5. As a first generation Chinese American, my immigrant parents wanted me to become a lawyer or a doctor and would always push their expectations on me as if my life choices were theirs to decide. If I got an B in a class they would make it known how disappointed they were and they would always compare me to my cousins and my classmates. After I went away to college and started dating my boyfriend, something I noticed with him and his relationship with his family was that his parents would constantly reaffirm that they did not care about his grades and that no matter what, they were still proud of him and that all they want is for him to be happy which in turn led him to have a good relationship with learning. The way he views education is so different from mine because of how we were raised and the environment we grew up in.
6. List ten things that make you feel human. 
7. Empathy
8. Friendship
9. Education
10. Compassion
11. Passions
12. Hobbies
13. Clothes
14. Conversations
15. The ability to appreciate things
16. My culture/heritage

Articulate your philosophy of engagement as it pertains to your work with the Impact Fellowship. Specifically discuss: 

Why should I engage?

I should engage because it will allow me to fully understand the kind of impact I want to make, how I will create action steps to meet the community’s needs, and how to create a strong relationship with the community I want to help.

How must I engage? 

I must engage by listening to the community I am affecting to really understand their needs and I must engage with my teammates in an effective way by efficiently communicating with one another regarding our roles and responsibilities.

With whom must I engage? 

I must engage with the community around me: kids with learning disabilities at the Centennial School, the teachers at the Centennial School, The staff at the art gallery, my teammates.

What kinds of challenges, opportunities, and approaches should I care about? 

Some challenges would be creating content that would not overwhelm the kids while also making art education fun and engaging and interactive. Some opportunities would be the opportunity to make a positive impact on my surrounding community and being able to create a new way of learning for kids who do not benefit from the traditional learning environment. Some approaches I should care about are to open people up to the idea of a new way of learning that incorporates technology in a way that has never been done in a classroom setting before and creating a design that revolves around how people with learning disabilities learn and stay engaged, improving their relationships with how they view education.

What might my epitaph read? 

I would like my epitaph to talk about the importance of creating a positive impact on your local and broader community and talk about the impact made through the impact fellowship during my college career. I also want it to talk about how the world can only improve if we act as agents of change by listening and engaging with different communities and identifying the needs of others and how any positive impact one creates, no matter how big or small, are key to creating a better life for future generations.

Blog #6: Team Prompts– 1. What are the technological, social, economic, and political trends that will impact (help or hurt) your ventures? 

As technology continues to become more prevalent in the modern world our project will become more relevant. When COVID started schools were forced to use virtual learning methods. Our project combines virtual and in person learning to create a unique experience for students. Due to the pandemic schools are more open to integrating technology into the classroom. This can be seen through the installation of 360 rooms throughout schools in America. It is expected that more and more schools will install similar rooms which will lead to an increased use of our product and in turn allow us to reach more students. This is a positive factor for our project as it will increase its usability. Economically trends could also impact our venture. Although schools are becoming more and more open to this 360 degree learning it comes with a price tag. If economic trends continue to be unstable it could impact the amount of schools willing and able to install these immersive learning environments. Social trends could help our project if these immersive rooms gain more traction and popularity. For the most part, our project is an independent venture. Since we are producing our own content from start to finish many trends will have no impact. The primary portion that will be impacted by trends is the consumption.