WEBVTT

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[AUDIO LOGO]

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Everyone here loves making
things, loves solving problems,

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loves coming together to create.

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It's just anyone who really
loves to work with their hands.

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It could be anything, really.

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Having such easy access to
the space and people really

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encourages making things.

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It's like the greatest toy box
you could ever want to play in.

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DesignPlus is a First
Year Learning Community

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for students of all
different backgrounds who

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want to explore design.

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We have 1,100 incoming
first year students.

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A Learning Community
allows them to find

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a group of students
similar to themselves

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with this common
academic interest.

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What we want to do is make sure
that students who might want

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to pursue a thread in design, or
maybe major in something that's

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designed-related,
they can see that

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at the beginning in their
first year through DesignPlus.

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At its core, we're
a social community.

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So we come together
every week for lunch,

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and we also come
together to learn.

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Really excited today to
introduce a special guest.

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We invite an
inspirational speaker

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to come and share how
they have explored

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design in their career.

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Medical school, for me, was a
very anti-creative experience.

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And I really wanted
to change that.

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So we started a design-thinking
program at my medical school.

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You can change all of
the material properties.

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You can change the colors.

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I think through
the speaker events,

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we get to see design
applied in the real world,

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either through research
or through industry,

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and it's really interesting
seeing their journeys.

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In DesignPlus, we
also explore MIT.

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We go and visit
cutting edge labs

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working on design problems.

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It's almost like a perfect
educational buffet.

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We took them to the Media Lab.

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They got to see the whole thing.

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And so they get an
entree to things

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that maybe they wouldn't see
in their normal first year

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experience.

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DesignPlus is also an
opportunity for you

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to design and make things.

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So we have this, kind
of, central area where

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a lot of people will
work on their projects.

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There's a room with
industrial-level laser cutters,

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a 3D scanner, a whole
array of 3D printers.

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And what's really nice is that
DesignPlus mentors are always

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available to train
you on these machines.

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Close the lid and hit the
green button on the wall,

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then you should be good to go.

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If you come with an idea, or
if you come with a project,

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then we can figure out a way
to try to prototype it or make

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it real.

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So you don't have to come in
being an expert on any of that.

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And then we can scaffold
you up on the way

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to use more elaborate and
complicated machinery.

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As a freshman, you get
your academic advisor

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assigned through the
Learning Community

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if you choose to
participate in one.

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My advisor gave really,
really helpful guidance

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in helping me think about how
I wanted to structure my four

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years here.

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The other thing is
the DesignPlus Lounge,

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which I believe is one of
the coolest spaces on campus

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to just hang out.

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It's always full of art supplies
and half finished projects.

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We have weekly
lunches on Friday,

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where you can just come
and mingle with people

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and see what they're up to.

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So there's definitely a
social community aspect

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to the Learning Community,
which I really like.

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My favorite thing
about DesignPlus

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is just the people that
I've been able to meet.

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My closest friends
are in DesignPlus.

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Do a spin move.

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It's great.

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What really attracted
me to DesignPlus

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was just the element
of just being me.

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Being able to connect to
all these different people,

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through that lens of
creativity, really

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made me realize that my creative
side is not secondary at MIT.

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It's actually one of my
greatest assets at MIT.

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What we do at DesignPlus
is we show students

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that there are infinite
paths through MIT.

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But one thread
that you often find

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is creativity, and exploration,
and making technology work

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for people.

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We like the idea that our
students are explorers,

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and they should keep up that
same spirit of exploration

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through their entire
MIT education.

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