When I first heard the words, “wicked problems” I didn’t really know what to think at first but the word “wicked” struck me in a way that I just had to figure out what this term really meant in this specific class. I soon learned in the very first day of class, that wicked problems are everyday real-world problems that can never really be solved. This was very upsetting to me and something that I took seriously because of how much I care about our planet. I remember that watching the movie we saw in the first class almost put me in tears because of what we are doing to our planet and how it will forever be a never-ending issue. Learning about these problems that can be found around the world is helpful towards understanding the world around us. Also learning about meditation is very important and taking time in class to practice meditation is very stress relieving. I understand that a way we can cope from all the stress the world weighs down on us is in fact meditation. It centers our minds, bodies, and souls so we can find a sense of balance. Once our bodies are in balance and we are secure within ourselves, we can then begin to calmly understand what is going on around us. Going head on at wicked problems in a calmer mindset rather than in a fast past, stressed mindset can get to the answer to problems in an efficient way. When we are confident in ourselves, we can be confident in tackling worldwide issues. What compassionate curiosity means to me is wanting to be more aware of what’s going on around you and the genuine willingness to do so with their whole heart. If people really cared about a problem, they would set out to do something but when someone is passionate, they will do anything to get to the bottom of any problem. Which goes along with having compassionate curiosity about wicked problems. You show empathy towards our environment and become curious about what ways we can help and contribute. It is an important mindset that everyone should have or even start out with when they are willing to get out in our communities for our planet. To fully understand a wicked problem, I believe that having the right mindset and full confidence in oneself is critically important. Being aware of your surroundings and yourself can ultimately help understand the wicked problems we are facing in our environments today. I believe I’m doing my part in the world about taking the first step into solving some of the world’s problems by practicing being aware of those aspects. Taking the time out of my day to meditate truly helps balance my mind, body, and soul. I feel like I can relax, focus on my breathing, and get my mind off the problems around me. It’s important and I try to work on it as best as I can each week so that I can feel capable of not only learning about wicked problems but also finding the best solutions to those life changing problems.

This class has changed how I think about the world in many ways and allowed me to construct possibilities that I can help contribute to them in my everyday life. I mean you only live once so why not be a part of it and act on the ways of the world around me. The world is always changing and there’s no way for me to stop that but there are ways for me to put forth into it. I believe that even small acts can go a long way. Not only is it important to have a compassionate curiosity towards our environment but it’s also equally important to have compassionate and humble responses to these wicked problems. After doing some meditation, learning, and deep thinking about these problems I have a better mindset about how I can respond. You can’t just hope that something will change, and it magically does it, you must put in the time and effort in order to take on these difficult problems. How do I respond to these wicked problems? Well, I believe learning about the problems in the first place is a good way to start. After gaining a better knowledge about these issues in our environments, taking time to meditate, think deeply, and reflect is the next step. After feeling secure and confident with the new knowledge and within yourself is when you can then make a humbled response. Making a humbled response is better than making the most correct response because you already know that wicked problems can not necessarily be solved. They are problems that will be faced for years to come so it is important to have the most reasonable response. Everyone wants to find the right answers to problems and that everything must be perfect when considering problems, but I believe that is not the case when dealing with wicked problems. Some ways that I consider achieving the goal of making my own humbled and compassionate responses is taking consideration of what goes on in my class. I do the meditation to center my mind, I do my homework that is assigned before class, I pay attention in class to learn more about the problems, I work with my small groups to work out the possibilities and hear what they have to say. Everything we do for the class contributes to making good, humbled responses to various wicked problems. For example, when we were learning about fashion, we read an article about what fashion really means to gain that knowledge before hand then we came into class to do meditation to get our minds off the world’s problems for a couple minutes. After, we dive into the problem and converse about it with our small groups and tackle it as a class. By the time I walk out of each class, I gain a feeling of confidence, I feel like if made an impact, and I truly feel like I have gained valuable information about the environment around me that I can carry with me for years to come.