Inventor’s Workshop Presentation

1. Inventor’s Workshop Presentation Nathalea Silva

2. Personal educational experiences. • Early Years • Winning an essay competition • Won a book, which was the first novel I read. • High-school • Being published in school paper. • Being school Vice prefect (similar to Vice President). • College. • Being a part of Barrett Honors • Being a Mentor (Talent Match) • Creative Writing Workshops

3. Dreams & Expectations for College. • Making a Decision • Originally enrolled @ Belmont University, Nashville Tennessee. Having to move, ASU was the next choice. • Hopes • Expressing the between education vs. graduation. My dream for college has always been to be able to enjoy the process of learning, growing and ultimately becoming a better person in life. • Fulfilled/ Unfulfilled • Thus far, my dreams and expectations have been fulfilled. • Things remained unfilled: Getting a creative piece published.

4. How could Inventor’s Workshop assist? • The Role of I.W. • Inventor’s Workshop can offers resources to students who may not be able to afford a literary agent but has material that has great potential to be published. • I.W. Network Leverage • I.W should include new genre writers, and inventors of new short-story forms to partake in its competitions.

5. Greatest life-time achievements or contribution to be? • I beg that my contributions resonate with an array of readers from children, parents and teachers, to business leaders, academic and clinical professionals, and simply all other persons who just wish to read…for fun, relaxation, and a bit of “wonder-full” insight. • After all, life is ultimately about inspiring us to be caring and contributory persons and citizens. What good is knowledge unless it prompts us to prevent the pain of others as if it were our own? In fact, education, knowledge, and wisdom combined--have the power not only to make us smart, but to make us good.

6. Inventioneering Aspirations • Project: • To create and launched a pro bono online program that would bridge the needs between college mentors who desire to make a contribution and high school students who need someone to “talk” to--especially when transitioning from high school to college. • Resources: • Money to create the website. • A team to maintain the website. • Additional team members serving as “matchmakers” for mentors/mentees.

7. Profile • Skills & Experience: • Mentor for The Honors College. • For the past year I have been mentoring a high-school student as she gets ready to graduate and attend college. (We communicate via email and I support her in a number of ways from answering questions to helping her edit admission’s essays etc.). • Why am I interested: • Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” • The need: College can be a daunting process, why not help students with this transition? • My personal experience: The impact my mentor has had on my life.

8. Attempts made: • I had written the proposal to enter the ASU innovation challenge last year, but I could not find anyone to partner up with that could bring the computer design skills that was needed. • I have also inquired about the cost to build and operate a website of this complexity and was quoted in the thousands. • The C.A.R.E Program through the School of Social Sciences: This will be a year-long research project working with an organization whose goals are similar to mine. I hope that I can gain insight into how a non-profit organization functions and perhaps be able to apply it to my own in the future.

9. Learning Objectives • Developing a leadership quality, • Learning how to reach out, interact, and ultimately listen and respond to community need. • Learn to translate the language of research statistics and data into interpersonal conversation amid community members.

10. Launching an Inventors Workshop Student Organization. • Networking students with the right resources, mentorship, organizations. • This is perhaps the most important because it sets things in place for everything else to be achieved. • Educating students about the financial resources available to them as well as how to access it. • Providing opportunities to gain hands-on-experience. • Inscrutables: How-To’s. • Links to information.

11. Inventors Workshop Student Organization. • Short Term Goals • Get people excited! Show students what can be done rather than tell them. I think this would be far more an effective strategy. Show what is Maker Faire and I.W. Potential. • Launch the Club • Have a competition. • Long Term Goals. • How can I.W. Workshop become part of ASU Curriculum • Perhaps the club can evolve into an Affiliation of ASU like Barrett. • Challenges. • As a Liberal Arts Major, I see a potential for the I.W. to alienate the “average” non-technical student. • The terminology and language should carry a universal message.

12. Encountering Success. • Key Components: • Clarity: How and What we say can be perceived in a number of way i.e. What is Inventor’s Workshop? • Who is an inventor? • Programs/ Opportunities: • Should be able to fund project/invention ideas. • Effectively leverage mutual interests • I think the challenge for this would be clearly stating how I.W. Workshop is different from every other club. • Alleviate feelings of “competition” to inspire feelings of “co-operation.”