In high school, whenever someone would say “I’m not a good painter,” our art teacher would swoop in and say, “I’m not a good painter, yet”. My mind has returned to the high school art room many times this week as I’ve thought about understanding ability. The inabilities that inspire design, the abilities to complete something, the bureaucratic abilities that surround change. Understanding ability is what allows for us to move from ideas to actions.

Doctors have eagerly pitched their project ideas to us, and we have intently listened. Many ideas surround app development or materials development or seem like year-long ideas. It’s unrealistic to think I already have all of the skills for a specific project, but I do have to ask myself what projects are better suited towards the skills I do have. For what projects do I say, “I’m not a good painter,” and for what projects do I say, “I’m not a good painter, yet”?

One of the reasons I chose the personal project I did is because I felt that it would be a great opportunity to build upon my current engineering abilities while developing more niche skills. The software and coding language I’m using are familiar, but the software accessories and tasks are all new to me. I don’t know how to integrate motors, yet. I haven’t used an Arduino Mega board, yet. The project’s scope calls for my skillset and then some. Realizing where my abilities lie lets me know where I can improve. With online forums, trial and error, and reaching out to classmates, I’m trying to work through the areas of uncertainty to expand my abilities.

When listening to the project proposals, I thought about where my abilities lie with respect to the scope, but I also thought about the abilities of other Rice students. I don’t know how to build an app, but someone at Rice surely does! With follow-up meetings and many questions, Georgia and I are scoping these projects for the interdisciplinary global health design classes. We’ve recognized our inability to complete these projects and the ability of our peers to see it through with success. We’re saying, “I’m not a good painter. But you know who is? Definitely some students at Rice.”