A few years ago, I finally had to start thinking about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Many people want to become a doctor, teacher, or a realtor but for me I did not want to go into those fields of work. It was not until a few years ago I found out what I was passionate about and do that for the rest of my life. That was to own my own business. Not just any business, I want to create my own clothing boutique. I want to create a cute small-town boutique where women can come in and find something, they can feel confident in. I found the place I could pursue my passion at that was here at Oklahoma State University in the fashion merchandising major and program.

Once I got my schedule for the fall semester at enrollment, I saw that I was enrolled in this class, Wicked Problems of the Industrial Practice, and wondered what it would be like. I did not even know there were such things called wicked problems especially in the industrial practice. I was shocked in a way because I did not realize that there are actually wicked problems in the field, I want to work in.

We watched the 11^th Hour in class and it showed so many different wicked problems and it was crazy to see what our decisions have made on the world and what it has come to. The 11^th Hour was very eye opening because it showed how our decisions are affecting the world. The 11^th Hour was made in 2007 and it was crazy to see all of the wicked problems back then compared to how they have escalated to now. I was not open minded when it came to learn about these wicked problems with all aspects of my body. When I was learning about the wicked problems at first, I was not trying to understand them intellectually, emotionally, and somatically. Now that I am in this class it made me realize that these wicked problems are really wicked especially since there are so many wicked problems in the industry, I am wanting to work in.

I think being in this course so far has really helped me realize that these problems are wicked, and we need to make a change to become more sustainable. I think I am making a slow progress towards the goal of understanding wicked problems intellectually, emotionally, and somatically. We need to make the change now because if we do not these wicked problems will become out of reach for us and we will be left with nothing. That is why we need to start making changes in our actions and decisions because what we do affects everyone and the work, we live in.

I think mindfulness practice has also helped me progress towards the goal because it has so many positive effects. I was skeptical at first when the topic of mindfulness practice came up because I have never meditated before and I thought I would fall asleep. When we would practice mindfulness in class it freaked me out at first because I felt like I was focusing on my breathing too much and I began to panic. Later, I found out that coloring is actually a way I can get my mindfulness practice in for each day. I did not understand why we would be talking about mindfulness practice in a wicked problems course, but I learned that practicing mindfulness actually can relieve stress and bring new ideas to help solve these wicked problems.

I used to just blow off all of the wicked problems because I thought they were fake, or they were not that important to me. But when learning about the wicked problems in this class I came to a realization that these problems are truly wicked, and we need to take action to fix our world before it is too late. While learning about these wicked problems in class I feel like I have grown to become more humble and more compassionate to these wicked problems. Although it is hard for me to understand these wicked problems, I still think I am working towards my goal and the goal for the class to become more humble and compassionate towards these wicked problems in the world.

There are so many characteristics with wicked problems because every little thing can be a part of creating a wicked problem. Everyone cannot always agree on one definition of a wicked problem. When everyone does not agree on something it can even be hard to find a solution. For instance, everyone is not going to agree on just one solution, and it is going to be hard for us as a society to fix the wicked problems we have created over the years. We cannot easily see a solution to these wicked problems because there are so many, and the solutions have no end point. Some solutions are not going to cut it when trying to fix wicked problems. Wicked problems are wicked, so as a society we need to find solutions that are unique and could potentially fix the problems. Another characteristic of a wicked problem is that we need to take action now.

I think taking action now is one of the hardest parts for me to respond humble and compassionate to the wicked problems because it takes time and I do not know everything to try to solve these wicked problems. For a lot of people including myself are too lazy or do not have enough time to feel like they can tackle the wicked problems. This a reason why most wicked problems are solved is because everyone is not working together. To find solutions to these wicked problems we can be humble and use mindfulness practice to think of ideas to solve these wicked problems together. We all need to take that first step together and change to try to solve these wicked problems, including myself.