I am a very open-minded person and always willing to challenge myself with new things. I always have questions in my mind about everything that happens in life. Sometimes, I think about what people on the other side of the world are doing, thinking, how is their day, and are they enjoying their life right now? That was my premise to begin to explore the good as well as the bad things that are happening on our earth. And the problem is, although we are living on a beautiful earth, everything is provided for free by mother nature. But with our greedy selves, we have destroyed the environment badly. I am quite disappointed in humans, and myself in particular. But things slowly changed in my mind since I started taking Wicked Problems class. In the past, I did not fully understand the purpose and why this subject was included in my major. But after a while, I realized it was essential for me and my classmates.

On the first days of class, I was taught meditation and mindfulness practice. I have heard and seen many people talk about this, but never really tried it myself. I still remember the first class, and vividly remember the image in my mind when I heard the bell ring during practice. It reminds me of a garden full of trees, flowers, and a small stream appearing. It is an image from my childhood that I consider peaceful. It’s been a long time since I saw that image in my mind. Pulling myself back to the present moment for a few seconds, I let my mind wander, then remembered to bring myself back to the present again. It is hard to practice mindfulness. After that session, I tried to push myself to practice for another ten minutes a couple of days later. In the next class, it’s a breathing lesson. It was the official day I understood how to meditate better. Sometimes while walking on the street, I suddenly realize that I am practicing breathing with my belly instead of my chest. It made me happy because I started to think about myself more. And just like that, I am more and more convinced why we need to put our minds at ease when solving a problem. It is not just only a benefit of this class, but mindfulness helps me to learn better in other classes too. I get to focus better in class, and at home, my study session is more effective. I get to learn how to be humble in my opinions. In small discussions between my friends and me, I tend to slow down on my thoughts, comprehend my arguments before actually saying them out loud. Blindly arguing and assuming that I am right in a conversation is selfish, so I try my best to stay away from it. 

A journey to becoming mindful is tough, yet I am still in a learning process right now. I will try my best to keep track of my ten minutes of practice every day. Learn how to breathe, and keep my mind as peaceful as I could. Learning how to be humble in my thoughts and opinions is also what I need to improve every day. I talked with my friends about the class, and actually convey the concept to them. In the future, I will persuade my friends to learn how to do meditate every day and help them to understand their bodies and mind while I learn about mine as well. It is something that I used to ignore, now, I just cannot wait to go home and practice mindfulness.

I began to see things more objectively about everything around me rather than emotionally. Although there are dilemmas, such as the environment and the economy that I used to get angry and annoyed when I heard about. However, after I started to understand more about compassion and understand the wicked problem better, I realized that we need better solutions, rather than finding the ultimate right solutions, because of course, that is hard to accomplish. For example, plastic straws, instead of us using plastic straws we can instead use paper straws, rice, or better yet, reusable straws. Although we have a solution to reduce plastic straws, I still see many brands selling plastic products such as straws, knives, forks, and plates in the market. Considering the truth is that we cannot impart knowledge to everyone if they do not want to be imparted. I am trying my best and doing my duty to help the environment become a better place, and I believe there are many people with me in protecting this earth. 

In the Interior Design industry, we do have some wicked problems as well. Buying duplicate and fake products that copy the original ideas are one of the wicked problems currently happening in the industry. As I learn how to be compassionate and sympathetic about the problem, I tried to look at a different perspective instead of just one. It might be the result of people wanting to get the same aesthetic but did not being willing to pay for the high amount of money while they can have the same outcomes. It can be considered as affordable as well. 

Through this class, I realized that we as a human will make mistakes and the key thing to take away from it was forgiveness and we need to learn how to move on. Furthermore, our body, mind, and imagination can work more effectively. That will help us see problems and identify new directions faster, more positive, and more effective. Being humble about our solutions and listening to others is a great way to learn and master wicked problems. It will help us to see the problem from many perspectives and benefit us with a better solution. In my opinion, letting go of worries from the past and learning from our mistakes will make us more compassionate and humble. On the other hand, practicing mindfulness will guide us to come up with wiser, equal solutions.