Try Stuff Out
Chapter 6 of “Designing Your Life” explained the importance of prototyping. The chapter explains that “prototyping the life design way is all about asking good questions, outing out hidden biases and assumptions, iterating rapidly, and creating momentum for a path we’d like to try out”(111). Otherwise explained, we need to plan out our future and our goals before just diving right into things. Doing so may end badly if we come to find out that what we are getting ourselves into was not planned accordingly or it was generally not the best thing to satisfy our interests, Prototyping is not necessarily on a timely basis in which it is something that takes a lot of time and consideration in order for it to result in the best possible outcome. Doing so allows us to properly prepare ourselves for the futures that we want to have.
The text explains, “Prototypes help you visualize alternatives in a very experiential way. That allows you to imagine your future as if you are already living it. Creating new experiences through prototyping will give you an opportunity to understand what a new career path might feel like. It helps you involve others”(112). Prototype is defined as a first, typical or preliminary model of something, especially a machine, from which other forms are developed or copied. In the case of this text, prototype is referred to as essentially a test trial which will help you get a better understanding of what things will be like in a field of interest before actually getting into it. As college students or students in general, we do this unknowingly by completing internships for a certain company or even doing interviews. Certain schools require students to do an interview which will determine whether that student is a good fit for the institution. These interviews also give the students insight on what the college or high school experience entails when the interviewer gives details on the school curriculum and extracurriculars. They will receive a much greater insight if said interview also comes with a tour.
Though I mentioned that interviews are apart of prototyping, the text argues against this claim. It explains, “a Life Design Interview isn’t an “interview” at all — it’s really just a conversation. So, when trying to get a meeting with someone, you don’t use the term “interview,” because that person will assume you mean a job interview. All you’re doing here is identifying people who are currently doing things that you’re interested in and whose stories you want to get”(117). These people that we meet with can help us make connections to get us started on our journey to our future. The work that we start with does not have to be too challenging and a complete form of whatever our career interests are. As one of the characters explained it, these small jobs are like a dip in the pool just to test the waters to see if we like it. After spending some time on it, we will have developed some experience and generally have a better understanding of what things will look like in the future.