After lunch on Monday, another C++ lesson was scheduled. All of the language is unfamiliar, but am confident that I can master it in time. I’m interested to see how I can use coding skills in industrial design. I only heard of coding mentioned with industrial design once. My friend created a medical device and her team partner had coded it. I don’t know any practical applications of coding in ID, but I would like to learn, hopefully using the resources available in VRAC.

On Tuesday morning, I came in early to practice C++, but I felt that I didn’t get very far. At 9am, the Craft of Research session focused on problem statements, as well as some information on IRBs. My fellow interns and I working on the teleport project gathered to collectively work on our problem statement. Interestingly enough, we all had slightly different perceptions of the objects of our project. We talked it over, but later confirmed our ideas with Lucia, when she gave us a tour of Jon Kelly’s lab. Later that evening, I reread the most recent draft of the teleport research paper. I reinforced my understanding of the project, and now I feel ready to ask my project mentors questions and suggest ideas on future directions. I also read our project’s IRB application, and now I have a concrete understanding of how the IRB evaluates projects, and I also learned of some smaller details of the project that I had not read about in the paper.

Eliot lead the Luncheon Lecture on Tuesday. I entered the room first and asked him how his day was, and he responded frustratingly, but I couldn’t quite understand what he was talking about. I was suddenly intimidated, but while he presented, I understood his claims that he could be a person who can be confided in. Eliot told us at the beginning that some of us would ignore his advice, although we really shouldn’t. I took this skeptically and curiously, wanting to hear what he had to say about his professional experience. He explained that he took a really roundabout way of education, professional experience, and academia. I was reminded of a presentation given to me by a product designer in high school. She showed a linear graph. That’s how some students expect their life to be when they leave high school, but the true result is a lot more complicated. It’s a web of finding something you like, realizing you didn’t like it, falling behind, getting back up, and repeating any of those steps again. Eliot’s message was the same as that product designer’s. In the end, they both found paths that were right for them, while taking positions that they loved. By the end of the presentation, I realized that I don’t ignore Eliot’s advice, because I knew it was truly helpful. In my short college career, I’ve experienced so many setbacks and turning points in realizing what I wanted to do. I feel like my current story is a piece of a much larger one. If I ever present like Eliot did, I’ve probably gotten enough life content for 7 minutes of an hour long presentation.

Photos with Paul — it was fun, although it was very warm outside. I really liked the photos that were sent out afterwards.

I came in early again to practice C++ this morning. I made much more progress than on Tuesday, and I think I’m getting the hang of some basic concepts. I’m still a little discouraged, because everyone else looks like they’re attending a Kindergarten lesson, and I’m struggling to keep up. But I bet they don’t know how to use Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign like I do in ID, so I guess some people have different skills than others. I want more, so I’ll keep practicing coding.

Yesterday, I had a brief moment of doubt. I started thinking things like, ‘who in their right mind would accept a designer to this program?,’ or, ‘if engineers can do interaction design, then what do designers do?’ Honestly, I’ve got to stop doubting and start asking people these questions.