November

Wow, I can't believe it's already November! Gosh, how time flies! iFoundry has been pretty cool over the past couple of weeks. We're going places with our Eng 198 project, and now I feel like I am more of a contributing member. Professor Price had a really interesting lecture on Wednesday. Also, AED is now working on small design projects, which is excellent, and I went to a fantastic presentation from IDEO on Wednesday.
There were a couple of interesting and similar points that both Professor Price and the presenter from IDEO brought up. Both touched on the point that a good listener has to be empathetic and curious. I've always admired people who generally listened to others, and I've wanted to be a better listener for a long time. So, this week I decided to give curiosity a shot. What a great idea that turned out to be! I had a real, in-depth conversation with a friend about her family history. It seems that everyday conversation is filled with short platitudes, so having a real conversation is a treat. Right now, I'm planning on having the same IDEO presenter come talk to AED during next semester, which should be very exciting! IDEO is a consulting design company, which should be perfect for AED folks!
AED is now working on smaller projects to present at Engineering Open House. They include building a better mousetrap, a better bike basket, and building a coil gun. It took us weeks to figure out if we wanted to do a project or not, and I think these relatively simple, small, and design-oriented projects are a great start! Group members get to work on what interests them, and so there's a lot more group participation at meetings. This is really going to be great for our group!
I accepted another responsibility this week. I was selected as the Chair for Community Day coupons for SWE. My job is to organize selling the books and putting up fliers. Also, I take care of the funds, and other related stuff. It's a good way to put my foot in the door for SWE.
Last night, AED had its second Youtube/ted.com party. We had one more attendee than the last time, so I think it was a success! It's a great group-bonding opportunity, for sure! After the party last night, I went with Matt and one of his friends on a ghost hunt at the local cemetary, and I was freaked out the entire time. I'm pretty scared when it comes to creepy cemetaries in the dark. But we didn't find any ghosts, unfortunately. After the unsuccessful ghost hunt, we went to Illinites to watch Justin Kredible and Andy Dallas. They're both magicians, and Andy Dallas was the guy from iLaunch. Justin's show was freakin' hilarious! Andy's show featured hypnosis exclusively, and I had the great opportunity to participate in the hypnosis. It was pretty cool!
So, this week, there's the SOM trip, which will be amazing! Also, I have a calc test on Monday, which won't be amazing. But in about 10 minutes, I'm heading over to my first 5k, the Turkey Trot! I'm really excited about it!
Well, that's about all the time I have for now. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice!