- 1 design idea you learned about as a result of the UN trip – how could you improve it?
I learned that design can be utilized in many different places in terms of sustainability and that designers should keep in mind the earth that we are affecting. The German diplomat showed examples of how designers redesigned empty shipping containers by transforming them into dorms or apartments. These shipping containers that were thrown aside, are redesigned to serve a purpose that is longer lasting and environmentally friendly. I could also brainstorm about how to reuse products or big objects to give them a purpose again.
- 1 inspiring policy idea you learned about from the UN trip – how or why did it motivate you? what could you do to help it forward?
One idea that was inspiring was how design should be inclusive and bring people from different backgrounds together. This inspired me because I did not think that design could be purposefully used to bring people who were different together. I thought most designs were there to bring similar people together. I understood that design for the public, or a design that would have to last for many generations would have to be inclusive.
- 1 fact that motivated or elevated your consciousness or empowered you from our trip to the UN – why did this fact touch you? did it speak to you emotionally, rationally, ethically? could you use that fact in your own way to motivate others?
Joel Towers was talking about how in the next few years, we should try to figure out what kind of designers we want to be. He said that Parsons was here for designers to figure out what kind of change we want to bring to the world. This was very motivating for me because I felt like I lived a very small-picture life this school year. I learned to realize that the next 3 and a half years will determine what kind of big-picture creator and designer I would want to be for the rest of my life. This also made me think about sustainability because that idea is also big-picture. You need to realize that taking care of our earth is necessary even if it does not seem immediate. This changed how I started to view decisions because I started to approach them from a big-picture view. I think this will help me to think bigger and more creatively.
