How the University Innovation Fellows Meet-Up Changed My Perspective
Before Spring break even started, I was on a plane from St. Louis, MO to San Francisco, CA. The meet-up lasted four amazing days (March 9–13th). As always, I had a lot of preconceived notions about what this meet-up was going to be like.
I was expecting A) lots of talking and being around people for this INFJ, B) not a lot of sleep, and C) not to learn as much as I did. Boy, was I wrong. Don’t get me wrong, it was still overwhelming at times for my introverted self to stay engaged, but I think I did a good job of giving myself the time to take a step back and just go for a walk! That did wonders for me.
The meet-up changed my thought process, leadership style, and my attitude towards entrepreneurship. Most people would be shocked that I attended a conference/meet-up that was solely focused on innovation and entrepreneurship as an English Literature and Psychology major, but I am so glad that I put myself out there to experience something new.
Day 1: Google
We worked on leadership/team development, prototyping, as well as heard from other fellows about the work that they’re doing, and heard from an amazing panel of Google employees. I definitely am interested in working at a company that embraces innovation and puts their people first like Google does on a daily basis.
My favorite part of my Google experience was coming together with other schools and talking about how working together, creating unity, and a safe space for everyone to share their ideas is what allows change to happen. I’d also never thought of myself as a change maker, but Google and the other fellows made me come to terms with the fact that I am capable of making my mark on a big world that needs a lot of help!
My group worked on talking about how we can change the education system; we were all super pumped on our ideas, no matter how big or how small they were. I wanted to create communities that were focused solely on hands-on learning and mentoring youth. One of our other ideas was to have everyone rotate jobs in a society so that they could find out what they love as time goes by, instead of making students feel like they “have” to decide what the rest of their life will look like by the time they are 18 years old. My day at Google was highly memorable, and one that will inspire me as a change-maker for the rest of my life.
Day 2: Stanford d. School
Check out this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byv8DqUgXq8laXF6X1pHM2Z3dkU/view?usp=sharing
Today, we focused quite a bit on design thinking, empathy, and how important it is to work effectively in teams. One of the first activities that we did, which can be seen in the Google Drive link, was about how making connections with others is so important. This activity also made us realize that sole control of a group needs to be rescinded in order to actually accomplish anything. You can be a leader and a follower, and it’s definitely important to make sure that everyone’s voices are being heard in order to create an environment that is totally conducive to success and change making.
At different times during the meet-up, I was a leader that got people thinking and engaged and at other times, I was a follower. I think it’s important to note that even when I was a follower, I still felt like an equal — I could throw out an idea and have it be embraced by the group, even if it didn’t end up being an idea that we used. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re a leader or a follower: it only matters that you actively engaged in the group and contributed to creating a safe environment for everyone to also share their ideas.
A phrase that I’ve coined this year to describe the group of leaders that I work with for the multiple organizations that I’m a part of is what I like to call a “leadership team.” I think that calling the group of fantastic leaders that I surround myself with a leadership team allows everyone to feel equal and not solely defined by their roles as secretary, treasurer, etc. It creates an equal playing field where everyone can throw out their ideas and feel like they matter.
Two things that I will implement in my leadership style are doing an activity that we did at the d. school (the 6 thinking hats activity) as well as making sure that everyone in the leadership team is at a level playing field physically. The 6 thinking hats activity allowed every different type of thinker an opportunity to get their ideas out with other people that thought similarly and differently. By creating teams that have different types of thinkers, we can create more inclusion, diversity, and a stronger flow of ideas.
The other thing that I want to work on is creating environments that are inclusive and safe for everyone in the leadership team. We can create equity in leadership teams physically by creating an environment where everyone is either sitting, standing, etc. I also want to make sure that everyone is writing ideas down on a vertical surface, like a white board. If everyone has a dry erase marker and space to write, then everyone will contribute and expand on their fellow leadership team members’ ideas. I also learned to never reject an idea — at first it might not sound like the greatest idea, but with the help of others, ideas can develop and create solutions to problems that we are all facing on a daily basis!
Day 3: Microsoft and the Stanford d. School
We started today off at Microsoft and I felt like a total traitor because I am a huge Apple fan! Anyways, we ate breakfast at their delicious cafeteria and then went up to their auditorium to hear from people that work with youth interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. All of the speakers were super engaging and brought a lot of personal stories to the table. I loved hearing from the people that work at Microsoft’s Garage program that focuses on creating new products. I wish I had known earlier about their internship program, because I definitely would have applied.
After we heard from the people from Microsoft, we got to hear another series of ignites, which are sort of like TED talks, but are under 5 minutes and focus on how a Fellow created or brought change to their question, ending with the Fellow asking a “How Might We…” question. I can’t even pick a favorite ignite talk because all of them got me so excited to create change. If you’re interested in watching some of the ignites, check out the UIF YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGmMfSglkVGHGWOt8Km5JcgbqNHYumKgm.
At the end of the morning at Microsoft, some of the executives left us with a challenge: how might we create more diverse and inclusive communities for freshman? That question got me really excited, because I am focused on creating change within higher education that focuses on diversity and inclusivity. I’d been having a hard time coming up with ideas or effective ways to make changes at SIU, and this got me more excited to get the ball rolling.
Once we heard about the challenge, we went back downstairs to start brainstorming and group thinking. Fellows came up with HMW (How Might We…) questions and then we all broke up into the groups that most interested us. I think there were over 40 different stations for HMW questions, but I was most interested in the Microsoft Challenge question because it relates most to what I’m interested in. Here’s what we came up with, some of it got cut off:
This was one of my favorite activities at the meet-up, because it allowed me to hear more about how campuses across the United States are trying to promote diversity and inclusivity. I learned that most of us are still struggling to find solutions that our campuses are facing, but it was still highly effective to learn about some programming that other colleges have been doing.
And now back to the Stanford d. School…
Unfortunately, I spent most of the afternoon on the phone with Southwest trying to rebook my flight, which unfortunately got cancelled, so I spent a lot of time walking around Stanford while on hold for 3+ hours :).
What I did catch at the d. School was a design sprint that focused on creating a plan for change at SIU. Bobby, Ken, and I all got together to brainstorm ways in which we can make students be heard at SIU. We planned to have a series of design thinking workshops where students could create HMW questions and try to solve some of the problems that we are facing. Afterwards, we would go to the administration and bring these issues and possible solutions to them.
In the future, my fellow Fellows and I are hoping to create a campus that is more inclusive, diverse, and open to change. Right now, SIU is struggling to stay afloat, and I think that my cohort members and I have what it takes to create social and administrative change on campus in order to increase retention and make sure that students feel happy, safe, and included on their college campus.
Final Remarks
I am so grateful for the University Innovation Fellows team at the Stanford d. School. This meet-up must have been an onerous undertaking! I am so privileged to have had the opportunity to go on a free trip to California, meet amazing people, and be inspired to make change on my campus. Through all of the events, talks, workshops, etc. I know that I have the confidence needed to become a monumental change maker on campus.
