I have to admit that I did not know
what the "Studio" class actually meant
nor how was it going to work.
I knew that we were going to be guided in various specific tasks to bring design ideas to life. Professor Sanda Katila threw her first pitch straight ar us the first week! and it was great:
- "...in this class, you need to so something, you have to find a problem... and solve it through design... and in two weeks, (Labor day vacation made us miss our second week of class) you need to tell me what you are doing. By the sixth week I expect models..."
- Sanda Katila
I had some experience in being left by myself to work. By working as a freelance Graphic Designer for over 10 years I knew how to work by myself. I also have had great bosses that left me work for myself just expecting something after a few weeks. And most recently working for TACA Airlines, I learned how to produce without being pushed, since my bosses just expected weekly reports and I worked for over six months literally with no one to report, but still I had tasks that needed to be done or if not, I looked for work (there is tons of it out there).
So Sanda's speed ball seemed fine (but I actually felt some pressure) because I had no clue on what to do. Nevertheless, she told us that our project should be: 1- Specific 2- Relevant 3- Local. And it needed to fit into one or more of the following 4 buckets:
A- Healthcare
B- Public Polices
C- Social Entrepreneurship
D- Sustainable Development
So, my first step was to understand was 1- what each of the four buckets really meant and 2- Which local (Kent State University, and Kent City, OHIO) organizations, institutions, schools, colleges, areas, departments, companies, etc presented these qualities.
I then made a list of all the local possible "Partners" or "Clients" I could reach narrowed down the possibilities according to my own personal interest in research. I realized that in Kent State, the Entrepreneurial school was always developing sustainable projects and decided to reach that school. I asked my Professor of Marketing Management Dr. Eileen Bridges if she could recommend someone to talk to. She sent me over to Prof. Julie Messing, Director of the Kent State Center for Entrepreneurship. She recommended me to talk to Prof. Craig Zamary who has been coaching students in developing new businesses at Kent and other areas. (Follow Craig's tweets)
I then met with Prof. Zamary and explained what my reasons for reaching him were. He told me he would contact me with some of his students so that I could find the project that was right for me.
On September 12 we had our first review session...
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