Shifting My Weight (2/1/21-2/7/21)

It was this week I think I really felt the weight of what my future in the Independent Study and Mentorship program has in store for me, especially after having a very fulfilling meeting with Daniel. As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I felt that our exchanges were somewhat awkward, likely because of the irregularities of my virtual mentorship. So to overcome this issue what I did during the meeting was have a discussion with Daniel outside of our common interest for aerospace engineering, about our hobbies and personal interests. The main reason I felt that it was awkward was because of our lack of connection. Having a virtual interaction meant that a lot of the pathological connection that physical interaction can bring about was not aiding in the construction of a solid relationship between Daniel and I. I feel that a successful relationship is built on trust, which is why I wanted to ensure that Daniel and I understood each other as individuals beyond our passion for aerospace. Although it was off-topic when considering that I wanted to make the most of our mentorship involving the development of my final product, I feel that it was an essential step in making the mentorship part of my ISM experience as fulfilling as possible. Speaking of fulfillment, I felt very dissatisfied with my conduct in regards to the mentorship as of the past earlier weeks. Daniel approaches my mentorship with dedication and insight that I immensely appreciate and inspires me to put forth the same quality of effort in taking in his teachings, which is why I wanted to add more purpose to our meetings by creating agendas prior to each meeting. I think by doing so, not only will I benefit by being able to organize my thoughts, inform Daniel of what we will be going over during the meeting (allowing him to be prepared in advance), and act as documentation to record my learnings over the course of my mentorship, but it also will serve as a material goal for me to work towards and motivate me to maintain a solid relationship with Daniel.