Our Wildwood, Summer 2019, Volume 45

“” IT’S NOT DESIGNED SO THAT YOU JUST ‘DO YOUR PASSION.’ YOU HAVE TO FIND WAYS TO ADD VALUE TO THE INSTITUTE AND ULTIMATELY TO THE WORLD. —JOE WISE, WISRD COO

JOSIE: The WISRD publications have been my baby for the past four years. I have seen the culture around this change for the better; it wasn’t a requirement to publish or write at all. Now that’s the one requirement that we created in WISRD because people think that if they’re good at science and math, they don’t have to learn how to write, to express themselves. WISRD is a research lab, and what good is discovering something if you don’t share it with anybody? JOE: That’s a perfect example of the contextual model of the Institutes. It’s a great opportunity for young people to get a sense of how the world actually works. It’s not designed so that you just “do your passion.” You have to find ways to add value to the Institute and ultimately to the world. JOSIE: In WISRD, we do a lot of reflective work for assessment purposes. Joe offered an alternative to writing up a reflection—to make a CV and connect it to the standards and work we’d done in WISRD, which I did. When I applied for internships at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, I took that CV and made a resume from it, pulling everything that I had done during my time in WISRD—the publications that I’ve been involved with, the research, the posters, the presentations that I’d given, my experience as director, as editor—and I had a resume that was applicable to the real world. I became their first-ever high-school intern. There’s the proof that WISRD is real- world applicable. OWW: How else does WISRD prepare students for “the real world”?

JOSIE: Yes, because it’s student-driven, the Institute changes the way it functions each year with the skills and interests of new members.

OWW: How has it changed?

JOE: I remember in the first year there was a lot of apologizing. There was a lot of, “Can I do this?” and “Can I do that?” Now it’s not like that. It’s a mindset shift. Now when you come into the lab, people are not waiting to be told what to do. They’re starting to set and keep goals for the day on their own—not just an amorphous goal in the future but “What are we going to get done today?” They’re doing a better job collaborating. These skills are crucial for success in the workplace. JOSIE: I remember as a freshman I spent a lot of time apologizing. (Joe would always get on me for apologizing.) I’ve learned to have confidence in my voice and what I’m saying and not feeling like I need to apologize for stepping on someone else’s toes. As I grew into a leader and became director of WISRD, I understood that it’s not rude or out of place for me to ask things of people. I’ve grown a lot more confident in that. As I’ve become more confident, people have been more confident in their willingness to listen to me and in my ability to lead them. I think those two things really went hand in hand. OWW: You’re talking about growth—of individual learners and of the Institute. Josie, what do you hope to leave as a legacy at WISRD?

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OWW SUMMER 2019