For my Be The Good project I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do until Dilyn suggested that we both cover the song "Where Is The Love," by The Black Eyed Peas. I was so drawn to this idea because my main passion is music and music production. I have recently become passionate about educating others on important topics such as climate change and racial justice. This song delivers such a strong message about changing our world for the better and giving everyone opportunities to succeed. For me, music is an amazing way to influence people for good in many ways. There are many rappers that rap about inappropriate, useless things, and that used to influence me to identify with those kinds of topics. Last year my music taste changed from meaningless rap to music with a better message, and this guided me in such a different direction. I think hearing speeches about the climate crisis from Liam, a 2020 graduate of One Stone, helped drift my music style away from stupid rap. I started to be more interested in caring about our environment and educating people on that subject. Music is an amazing escape for me. I can let all my stress go when I’m messing around with Logic, which is a music production app, and focus on everything that I’m passionate about. Before being at One Stone, I had no idea that I ever wanted to pursue music, since I was stuck taking classes about specific subjects and never got to explore different skills. I was so drawn to One Stone because I could explore anything I wanted and integrate all the opportunities for learning in different areas while finding my passions. One Stone has helped me dive into my passion of music and inspired me to send a good message out to people with my music. That’s why I chose to cover this song with Dilyn because it delivers an amazing message about how we can change the dynamics of our society for the better. My goal throughout my future is to have an amazing impact on society and help make a difference through my music.
Mikaela Bruns
Some of the most important parts of my T-Popper are art, nature, and people. I was able to put these things into practice when I went to the Boys and Girls Club to work with and support a younger kid who is trying to work through elementary school online while going through the COVID crisis. My artifact reflects that because it includes activities my Boys and Girls Club buddy Charlie and I did, which involved art, nature, and talking to each other in-person. To do good means to help someone or something whether it be to cheer them up, or to give them something they may need. My artifact is a picture of a soccer ball with leaf rubbings on it and a collage of pictures to represent the different activities me and Charlie did together such as running, leaf rubbings, and playing soccer. The leaf rubbings on the soccer ball aren’t any of the ones Charlie did because he brought all of his pictures home, but I colored the ones one the soccer ball. The experience reflects what it means to do good because I was helping a kid by just having fun with him for a little bit and making him smile. My artifact reflects what it means to do good because it shows the different things we did together, even with the challenges we face. The experience this artifact is based on represents what good I want to do in the world because I want to make others happy and while we were playing around, I think he was happy. This experience inspires others to do good because playing soccer, making leaf rubbings, and racing Charlie was a very enjoyable experience. Just doing those simple things for a bit brought a lot of joy in these hard times that we all are facing, some more than others. He was a very energetic and outgoing kid, which helped me bring more energy into playing with him. Spending time with Charlie and seeing him happy was a very nice and heartwarming experience. I have learned that I love to see others happy and cheerful when they’re able to in these hard times.
Mime Byrne
One thing I noticed when joining One Stone is how much goes on at once. Sometimes it is hard for me to gauge where I fit in. Joining Community Garden through Project Good helped with this. Working with the coaches and other students on our plot of land to turn it into a farmable area has been a rewarding process. Most of the work I have done has been online but the times I have been able to go in person it has always been fun. One event over the last 10 weeks that I got to participate in was apple picking with Project Good. This experience made me feel like I made an impact in the real world and like I had connected with the One Stone community. The good apples we picked went to supplying people without fresh produce in our community, and those that were not so good were turned into cider. One of the things we learned online through an empathy interview was the importance of having fresh produce in your diet. It was nice to be able to do something to help people without access to it. Overall, both apple picking and Community Garden as a whole have inspired good in me and have changed the way I view my easy access to food.
Nicholas Howard
My name is Nick Howard, and I'm interested in guitar and coding. My personal vision for the future is to encourage good, safe, and fun education for local youth, in a way that is adapted for any circumstances. For Halloween, our X-lab group decided to host a special parking lot arcade as an alternative to trick-or-treating. This seemed like a way to serve the community, since covid-19 has changed the way we do things. We hosted a safe and fun arcade, with student-made booths. We designed this event mainly for children, since Halloween is important to children. Our team decided to make a booth that consisted of making paper airplanes and throwing said planes through different obstacles. This event correlated with my personal vision because we were navigating an obstacle (covid) while supplying a fun and creative Halloween event. Doing good, isn’t just doing. It includes putting effort and meaning into your work. If all we did was pay a company to do our work for us the activity wouldn’t have had the same impact. We worked on this project for weeks, and the time and effort we invested made the activity impactful. It was a valuable and safe Halloween experience. Each of our booths were handcrafted and thought out. We chose these booths because we found them enjoyable, so we knew the kids would also enjoy them. I don’t think any of us actually have planned events before, but since we all voted on doing this project, and cared for the end product, we were able to achieve something all of us are proud of, and something the kids will remember.
Nydia MacDonald
Hi, my name is Nydia MacDonald and I’m a first-year Dlab student at One Stone, and I am very passionate about being able to explore my passions. I have had so many incredible opportunities to work on projects that I am proud to be a part of. At the beginning of the year, I had the opportunity to work on an ad and informational video campaign with the Boise-based company salt! This project became really important to me because Saalt is truly an incredible company that cares about creating a more comfortable period experience for people with menstrual cycles. I found that I wanted to put my all into this project because I am passionate about what the company values and the products they create. I am very passionate about sustainable period care, so I am so grateful that I got to work with a company that wants to do good. We had the opportunity to help write, ideate, produce, and direct the videos. I was really excited to be a part of this however it was really scary because it was my first two birds project and I had never done anything like this before. I really wanted to dive in, but in doing that I definitely think I took on more than I should have because I got really overwhelmed near the end of the project. Luckily for me, I had an incredible support system in Michael, Jeff, and Jun. I am infinitely grateful for them because they helped me get through a rather difficult time during this project. I am so grateful that I got to work on this project and it’s definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had. Regardless of the ups and downs that came along with this project. I am glad that I got to be a part of this experience, and I am grateful that I got to work with an incredible group of people!
Opal Almerico
My name is Opal Almerico, and I am a Y-Labber at Lab 51. My personal vision statement I’ve created for myself is, “living in the present to improve the future.” My artifact relates to this by providing an opportunity for my peers to get outside, and put their minds at ease by focusing on the here and now in order to move forward in their day with peace and readiness. Doing good to me means making an effort to make a difference in the work you do in and out of school. It means you are intentional about the impact your words and actions make on those around you, and you try your best to make change for the better in your community. This can be anything from what I chose to do with a personal wellness practice, to organizing a school wide fundraiser for a local homeless shelter. The practice I decided to lead is something that has helped me throughout this time of stress and uncertainty, and I felt it may be beneficial to others as well. I’ve learned you can’t do good for others until you do good for yourself first, and support your mental health needs. It breaks my heart when I see people around me making self deprecating comments, or having an unhealthy mindset that they are incapable or unworthy. I wanted to share this wellness practice to spread positivity, and emphasize the idea of being your own best friend. I think this experience inspires others to do good, by encouraging them to take time for themselves so they can put their best foot forward without the burden of self hatred on their shoulders. Something I have learned over the past 10 weeks is that there are always going to be tasks at hand that stress you out in the moment, but if you always let these stressors be your main focus and root of your anxiety you will constantly be anxious and never win. You have the power to live freely while still having obligations, you just need to prioritize your mental health and be balanced about how you choose to spend your time!
Phoenix Cowman
My name is Phoenix Cowman and I started here at One Stone about ten weeks ago. Because of One Stone I feel a lot more inspired to do good in my community. I have been most impacted by my experiences with the kids at the Boys & Girls Club. The relationships I have built with them have been special. It has felt good to make such a profound impact in my community. The first time I worked with kids from the Boys & Girls Club was through Love of Learning. This is an after school program offered by a coach at One Stone. I worked with a kid named Knox to build a catapult, used to launch candy into a bucket. He told me about financial struggles at home, with his parents only being able to afford for one of their kids to be able to go to school, while the others would be homeschooled. Before this I did not have much experience working with kids, in fact I thought I really struggled working with kids. But, the experience not only helped me work better with kids, it also helped me work to build relationships with them, understanding their struggles and hardships, as well as their interests and hobbies. In short, I believe this experience has allowed me to become more empathetic, and I also believe that right now, it is more important than ever. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on kids. The education aspect of school for young kids is still there, but the social aspect is more difficult and unpredictable. I know how hard it is for me to focus during online school, but I can’t imagine how hard it is for someone that age to focus, learn, and gain a normal education experience hardly at all. The social aspect of school is what makes the learning process a lot more meaningful and impactful. Working with the Boys & Girls Club provides a unique opportunity of finding ways to work with the restrictions we have because of COVID-19, especially ways to incorporate the social aspect back into learning.
Piper Clark-White
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I’m Piper Clark-White, a Ylab student at One Stone who has a huge passion for acting. During these past 10 weeks, I was able to participate in an ad for Saalt for their new teen menstrual cups. I spent around four hours practicing and filming my part with fellow One Stone students, and it was an absolutely incredible experience. We were all having so much fun, it was very relaxed, and we had a lot of laughs and meaningful discussions both on and off camera. I incorporated my why statement throughout this experience which is, “to create so that myself and others feel a connection to what makes us human.” I used my passion for acting to be part of a creation that helps others feel more confident and less stressed during their period. As someone who has been wanting to start a career in acting, no matter how small, this was practically a dream come true. To me, doing good is when you step out of your comfort zone to help with something that is bigger than just yourself, and I definitely feel like this experience reflects that. I was able to help educate both myself and others on the topic of periods and menstrual cups, help out a local business and be a part of their movement of doing good for both the environment and period-havers. This ad reflects how I want to do good in the world, by following my passions to help others in whatever way I can and through combining my love of acting by helping Saalt and their end users. This made me want to find other ways on how I can use my passions, like acting as well as writing, to do even more good. I hope my work and passion inspires others to do good by stepping out of their comfort zone and following their own passions to be a part of something that helps others.
Piper Myers-Poppay
My vision statement is “to eb and flow with the obstacles of life while living with intention and giving extra love to others around me.” Hi, I’m Piper, and I’ll be the first to admit that this year has really challenged that vision statement. Ebbing and flowing through this pandemic seemed unobtainable. Being the good can look a lot of ways. For me, doing good looks like giving a compliment to a friend about their outfit or helping a peer edit their work, but it also looks like doing good for yourself, making sure you have what you need because putting yourself is important. When you focus on yourself, you can put your best self forward to do good for others. My artifact shows me walking through the foothills, explaining my fall immersion. This immersion gave me time to think and breathe, where I could walk with my peers outside and connect in a way I so desperately needed. I learned that sometimes ebbing and flowing doesn’t always mean constant movement, it also means standing still and looking over the mountains to assess what I can do to move forward. This relates to doing good because I realized a valuable lesson while walking through the mountains. It is impossible to devote the energy to doing good for others if you can’t do good for yourself first. So don’t forget to give yourself credit. If you made yourself a nice breakfast, took a power nap, or did a face mask, good for you! You are doing good for yourself and that will reflect onto others!
Rebecca Metzgar
My name is Becca Metgzar. I am a sixteen year old YLab student at the Lab51. Throughout my time at One Stone, I’ve put an emphasis on connecting with my environment through storytelling, whether that means art, literature, film, or oral history. My Why statement is the following: To value time to reflect so that I can cultivate meaningful spaces for myself and others to build relevant connections with the world around us. Ultimately, practicing with intention has always stood out to me as a core value. Growing the skill of developing my awareness of and empathizing with the dynamics of my surroundings has opened up my ability to recognize the meaning of my actions. It has taught me to be in touch with my authentic self and bring my best to the table. This is why the mindset quadrant of the BLOB has been crucial in the development of my voice. With this in mind, I want to discuss my Be The Good artifact through the lenses of vulnerability and mindfulness. This artifact is my Intention to Graduate poster. When prompted to “reflect on my readiness for my year in Y-Lab and ensure that I have developed the toolkit to pursue my passions, practice with intention and to thrive in the next stage in life,” my initial instinct was to create a slideshow and wash my hands of the assignment. However, after making the slideshow I felt nothing to be proud of. That presentation style was only representative of my bare minimum. It was not an accurate example of the toolkit I had developed. The night before my presentation I scrapped the slideshow and created a poster that not only checked the boxes for the project, but also served as a resource for myself. This poster is a physical representation of my commitment to my environment and also to myself for this year. It also tells the story of my first two years in this community. I get to look back on it every day and see how far I have come. I think about little Becca walking into the building on her first day and it breaks my heart to know how small she thought she was. This poster is a commitment to continue building connections with people who uplift and to always embody my authentic self. In the past ten weeks I have made zines, installed art around the city, learned how to use new design tools, spent hours meeting with leading environmentalists in the West, and applied to college. This artifact is a reminder that with meaningful spaces and relevant connections at the forefront of my journey, I can always find the good.
Reece Howell
When I was pitched with the idea to design signs for the One Stone building, I wasn't completely sure it was what I wanted to do with my summer experience. Mostly because I knew it was going to be a large project, which turned out to be much longer than I thought it would be, and I would have to learn a lot about adobe, design, and city policies. But I knew it would be a really educational/helpful experience, and I knew I really wanted One Stone to have signage, so I decided to take it on.
Once we started working on this project, I really started to enjoy the design concept, which allowed me to be much more engaged with the project. I was really enjoying creating my own designs with drawing and having Michael Regan help me put it into adobe illustrator. I really enjoyed learning about Adobe and how to use it, I am super grateful that I have that on my background now, it will open up a lot of opportunities for me. I also learned more about the foundry, especially with the C and C. Knowing that they were my designs, that they were actually going up on the building, and the good it was going to do for projecting our building was a huge motivator and accomplishment.
I also had to learn a lot about the city and the regulations and guidelines that you have to follow when putting a sign above a public sidewalk, as well as learning about getting a permit. Jesse and I had to meet with city hall multiple times updating our pitch with the regulations we were told the time before. Regulations such as size compared to building, weight, height above sidewalk, mounting material/process, an overview of the street/building setup and more came up during these meetings. We had to redesign the blade sign on the corner of the building a few times according to these because it was either too big or too close to the sidewalk. This process definitely taught me about patience and to always measure twice, as well as to check the guidelines before you start something.
Then came working with Trademark, specifically Kevin Werre, both at One Stone and observing their amazing workshop. We met with Kevin often during the process to check in and get advice/opinions on materials and ideas. After we had everything designed, Kevin helped us by ordering us Cast acrylic, paint, and a bit for the C and C. Once we finished cutting everything out and painting it, with everything just needing mounting we got to work with Kevin. We spent a good full day at the One Stone building mounting the signs with a forklift Kevin brought. After we finished it was a huge relief and moment of pride. I talked to Kevin about an internship which did not end up happening because of Covid- 19, but would love to do one once everything clears up.
Overall I really enjoyed this experience, and am very grateful for the skills it has taught me, as well as the relationships opened up by it. Seeing all the good it has done with boosting coaches' confidence in the building, One Stone and I interacting with the city and starting a relationship, and all the connections and skills it has taught me. I feel I have grown greatly in areas of Grit, Desire to grow, Technical skills, Risk taking, Problem solving, Goal setting, Ownership, Management, Communication and more. It has taught me so much about being in a professional environment, especially with being involved with the city, as well as ownership with having a big grant and it being my project alone with Jesse. I definitely see this experience opening others in my future, I can't wait to get back into this kind of work.
Regan Ybarra
We all know that this year has been messy, to say the least, so it goes without saying that this year, more than ever, it is important for us to be the good. That being said, it can be difficult to find the necessary motivation. I have certainly felt that. More likely than not, I found myself with little motivation and few goals throughout most of the year. I felt as if every day was simply a means to an end, but then I was presented with the “Halloween XTravaganza”. Personally, Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. Something about being able to dress up, and see people’s creative sides glow has always made me feel fulfilled and deeply connected. Being able to reinvent Halloween this year filled me with that motivation that I so desperately needed. The XTravaganza allowed me to indulge in one of my main passions, which is design. I had the time of my life being able to design a life sized board game, as well as being able helping out other teams in my lab group with their designs. When the day finally came, the smiles on everyone’s faces and seeing people having fun despite the safety precautions we followed made me feel accomplished, satisfied, and all around good like a salty ocean breeze. This event truly helped me realize what being the good means to me. Being the good is to actively work to benefit people. I like to define “people” as an individual, a group, or even one’s self, and this gathering truly checked off all of those boxes for me. On multiple occasions, we had participants come to tell us how much fun they had, which filled me with gratitude, and appreciation. I would love to do another experience of this sort in the future, and I will certainly continue to be the good in any way I can.
Riven Maple
I believe that there are two types of leaders. First you have your loud leaders; they’re do-ers. They are very vocal, with pep talks, leading discussions, energizing those around them, and sharing opinions. They tend to be charismatic and if the group needs a spark of motivation, they’re the ones to light it. Think of someone like Iron Man or Captain America from the Marvel universe. They both have strong morals, look after the team, guide the game-plan, and encourage teamwork. Quiet leaders, however, are harder to recognize. They tend to watch from the sidelines and gently urge those around them in a new direction in hopes of helping them find their way. While they don’t usually like to lead discussions, they help guide them. They also tend to to help refocus the group if need be. Think of Violet from the Incredibles. She tends to stay in the background most of the time, putting out small encouragements but shows up to support her family when she’s needed. I consider myself to be a quiet leader. My favorite way of doing that is to be a mentor. And that’s exactly what I do. I am a “Big” at Big Brothers Big Sisters. Every Tuesday, I meet with my little and we spend about a half an hour doing whatever we can in the time we’re given. We play games, talk through problems, discuss interests and passions and adventures. Most importantly, we look after each other by doing something fun. For example, since we couldn’t hang out for Halloween, Laela, my little, gave a tutorial on how to draw a pumpkin and I taught her how to draw a ghost. This was one of the most powerful moments I’ve had with her because I could see the influence I’ve had on her. This artifact shows how I choose to lead. The connection that we made was so important because in spite of not seeing each other, we still made the most with what we had around and some really great memories. Growing up, I was always around kids my age or adults, but I never really had someone in the middle. I feel like my friends didn’t take anything seriously (which isn’t surprising at age 11) and the adults were more focused on what I could or couldn’t do. So I decided to be that person for a kid. I wanted to be someone that was still learning, but knew enough to give advice. I wanted to be the cool older kid that they could talk to if they had a problem or the one they could count on to brighten their day. Most importantly, I wanted to make a difference, even if it was small. Because everyone deserves a role model, and a (not-so-big) big kid to help make things seem a little smaller.
Roman Olsen
Hi, I’m Roman Olsen. I’m a DLab student at One Stone. Some of my interests include technology and entrepreneurship, and my pronouns are he/him. For my previous immersion, I signed up for (Re)Visualized, and I had a great experience that I want to share with you. When I was in (Re)Visualized, I learned about 3D modeling using Blender, a 3D graphics software. This was something I had always wanted to try but never had, as it looked very advanced and confusing to me. In the first week of the immersion, I was learning the basics and was having fun experiencing something new. I also thought it was awesome how Daniel Krafft, a YLab student, helped lead the immersion, showed us the software, and helped us build simple models. Toward the end of the immersion, I started working on my final project. I decided that I wanted to create Loly-Poly terrain, which is essentially terrain but with a more geometric style. At first I learned how to make a tree from watching a tutorial on YouTube, and that was really helpful, but when I was trying to create the actual terrain (such as the grass and hills), I had help from Daniel. He showed me a couple tips and tricks that he uses when he makes Low-Poly creations, and they were very useful for my project. Once I was happy with my design, I imported it into Unity and Roblox Studio, which are video game engines. That meant that I could now use my creation in my own video game if I ever wanted to! Overall, I really enjoyed my Re(Visualized) experience. I learned a lot about 3D modeling, and I would say it’s now one of my interests. This experience connects to my Vision Board, because one of my values is creation and sharing that creation to others, and in (Re)Visualized I created 3D models that I presented and shared out in the end. I’m grateful that there are other students who can help show us new skills; it makes me wonder how I can help teach and be an inspiration for other people. It has moved me to Be The Good, because I realized how much of an impact you can make on somebody’s life just by sharing your knowledge with them. To me, part of doing good is sharing, teaching, and being there to help others, and I think the student leadership in the Re(Visualized) immersion accomplished those aspects well. One thing that breaks my heart is when people have a project or goal that they want to achieve but are not sure if they have the knowledge, skills, or resources to finish it. That makes me want to do good in the world by sharing my knowledge with as many people as I possibly can. I benefited from the experience of having Daniel share his knowledge with me, and as a result, I want to share my knowledge with others to help them on their journey.
Ronan Kelly
My name is Ronan Kelly. I'm a dlab student at one stone and I'm interested in and enjoy things like working with technology. The artifact I've chosen for this was my first D-lab project about music's effect on alzhiemers. What i think it means to do good is to help people and do thighs that affect people in a positive way. An example of doing good would be helping someone find something important that they have lost or volunteering at a shelter. It doesn’t have to be something big to be good. You can do good things with small actions as well. Anything can be good as long as you aren’t harming the environment or people around you. The way my artifact reflects this is that we were trying to do good by finding a way to improve quality for those with alzhiemers. This breaks my heart because it's sad to see people suffering and dying while slowly losing their ability to function as human beings. It's sad to watch and i've seen it happen to a few people including my grandfather which is why i wanted to research this topic. The good I want to do in the world is to improve their quality of life and make things better and easier for them. I hope this artifact can inspire others to want to help those with Alzheimer's as much as I do. Some of the things I've learned about myself over the past 10 weeks is that I really enjoy working with technology and designing things. For my last 2 immersions I have used technology to design different things whether it's a game on unity or room in blender. I really enjoyed it and hope to have more experiences like it. Another Thing i learned about myself is that I really sympathize with and feel bad for people less fortunate than me and that I want to help them in any way possible.
View Site: https://sites.google.com/onestone.org/dlabresearchgroup/home
Roy Iradukunda
My name is Roy, my pronouns are they/them and I am a second year Dlab student. My vision statement is, “Libration without Limitation,” and I carry this statement to my learning experiences and center my doing good around it. For me, doing good looks like sharing information and resources to everyone in our community. By asking questions and not being afraid of what we know, we liberate our consciousness and our empathy. This fall, I got the opportunity to facilitate a conversation on pronouns in my Mission Lab, “Picnic and Politics” about gender and how we can move forward and cause the least amount of harm when folx are having trouble using someone's correct pronouns. This experience was meaningful to me because I noticed that when the gender expansive folx in our community are misgendered there's an awkward silence and no one really knows how to handle the situation because we did not take the time to have hard conversations and ask simple questions. When we normalize these conversations, it creates an opportunity for vulnerability and empathy because folx are not afraid of what they don’t know. We are able to prevent the harm that comes from misgendering before it happens. I learned that I enjoy facilitating and making information accessible and I look forward to continuing to do that throughout my Lab-51 experience. It felt really good when my peers told me that these were things they were already curious about but were scared to ask because they did not want to say the wrong thing. Continuing to hold space for meaningful conversations like this that center the well being of those that are marginalized allows us to stop the harm that misgendering and other microaggressions cause before they happen.
Ryan Huestis
A photo from on top of the foothills where I did a lot journaling and reflecting.
My name is Ryan Huestis and I’m a design lab year two student. One of the things I value highly in life, and is a big part of my T-popper is health. Improving my overall wellbeing has led to a greater appreciation, enjoyment, and ambitiousness for life. When thinking about something I could share that would be beneficial for other people, the first thing I thought of was this essay I wrote in the human (nature) immersion. There, we spent a lot of time outside reflecting, hiking, and generally being more in-tune with ourselves while out in nature. As I was spending time outdoors, it dawned upon me that my overall levels of “happiness” were much higher. Along with having looked into this before, I decided to write about the ways in which living more naturally could possibly help in various aspects of life. To “do good” in my opinion means to do something virtuously. This can mean doing something even though you do not want to do it, or having an inclination to do things with the interest of other people in mind. I believe this essay captures the essence of that, because it is in a way a little guide I’ve made to becoming an improved version of yourself. One of the things that has always bothered me in life is people who don’t or cannot live up to their potential. Through knowing people and reading a bit, I’ve noticed a commonality in that what’s often holding people back from living a more fulfilling life is that the “simple” things cannot be set in order. As stated earlier, the thought process here is that if you’re able to work on your physical and mental condition, this can have a great compound effect and positively improve other parts of your life. To sum up what I’m saying, especially over these last 10 weeks, I’ve learned a great deal about health and adopting a better mindset for myself. Being able to help people with certain information pertaining to health definitely lines up with my passions. If this is something I can continue to do in the future, that would be great. Ideally, this essay would help people, especially during these times. I hope it can be of service to you. Thanks.
Ryann Ruehman
I am constantly inspired by my Project Good, Empow[her]. But, so far the thing that has stood out the most to me is (her)story. This is something we have started doing recently at our meetings. One person in the group will research and make a presentation about a woman who has made an impact in their personal life or been someone they look up to. My artifact is a photo of the slide from a (her)story about Princess Diana. This was one of my favorite stories told so far. Princess Diana was an advocate for so many things, like HIV/AIDS awareness, banning landmines, and women's rights. This inspires me to make an effort in advocating for causes I am passionate about. I love getting to hear stories about amazing women throughout history, as well as get to know the people who influence and inspire my peers.
Samantha Walker
My name is Sam, and I just recently started my One Stone experience in XLab in the fall of 2020. I really enjoy helping people and growing as a person. One Stone has helped me fuel and inspire my passions by having a top priority of making students better leaders and the world a better place, which also means pushing me outside of my comfort zone. So far in the time I’ve been here, the most impactful moments have been during an event hosted by XLab for redesigning Halloween. Halloween is super important for people to find a social connection and it’s overall, a really important holiday for people to express themselves. Finding social connection and opportunities for self-expression are ways I think I do Good in the world. For me, to be the good is to help people with empathy at my core.
The start of this Halloween experience was a design thinking challenge. XLab split into groups and each group worked on empathy interviews, research, and how people feel about Halloween and the changes with COVID-19. Unfortunately throughout the majority of the interviews and research part of this project, I had gotten COVID-19 and stayed home for two weeks. When I came back, I did my best in supporting my team, giving my input, and helping with the rest of the project. My group designed a station with a life-sized board game for people to play that came by in small groups.
The most impactful part of this experience was the feedback and the accomplishment of doing something to inspire others and have them be grateful. Everyone’s immediate reactions were amazing, and parents would say that this was a great idea, and overall, it looked like everyone was having fun. We also had a feedback whiteboard with some people’s responses that made me feel so happy that what I contributed made a difference. I hope that the way the kids felt about this event inspired them to make others feel that same way, whether big or small.
The artifact I made is a digital drawing of a piece of my costume, a character from a game called Among Us. I watched a lot of YouTubers playing this game when I was stuck at home recovering from COVID-19. It also inspired me to make a little stuffed buddy named Sal that I carried around with me during the event. Most of the kids there recognized my costume and made me feel like what I created was appreciated and good. Having people recognize my costume made me and them feel social connection. This was a moment of doing and being the Good in the world.
Sara Ziegler
Hi, I’m Sara Ziegler, a DLab student at One Stone. My mission at One Stone is to pursue adventure and experiences that bring me closer to my vision. I love adventure, taking risks, and seeking experiences that you would not always have automatically stumbled across. Some notable things on my T-Popper include travel, science, storytelling, literature, cinema, marine biology, philosophy, culture, art, & foreign language. I was able to incorporate the science & storytelling elements of my T-Popper heavily into my artifact for the Land+Scape+Water+Color immersion, which was my first immersion at One Stone. Doing Good to me means to help the environment, seek valuable interactions with people, build/help a community, and to be there for people. My Land+Scape+Water+Color artifact represents how I want to be the Good because it represents my love for science and storytelling and portraying science’s importance through the use of storytelling. Climate change and a dying Earth breaks my heart, and if I can make this cause understood through the use of nature I am happy to be able to do this. It also breaks my heart how little people care for nature. I have literally heard people say “Nature is horrible,” and that is simply not how humans were meant to live. Through this artifact I aimed to explore the relationship between plants and water through the exchange of letters between a research student in Brazil and her grandmother, who lives in Boise. It was such an interesting format to me because I was able to explore the beauty of the Idaho landscape, especially its waterscapes, through fresh eyes and it was very enlightening. I hope this inspires others to have a deep love for Idaho’s landscapes even if they find themselves miles upon miles away in the future. It is important to love the Earth because that is where we came from, and to love the exact place where we came from. I have learned so much about my stand-point on nature the last ten weeks, both through the Land+Scape+Water+Color immersion and the human (nature) immersion, when my viewpoints and love for nature deepened to a philosophical level. I have loved exploring science, art, nature, and storytelling, and doing Good at One Stone this year!
