When I drive through the CC campus I sometimes imagine going back, know-ing what I know now and doing it all again \u2014 in part for the intellectual stimulation and friendships, and in part because as an adult I have to arrange my own meals and I miss Rastall. A lot.<\/p>\n
In July, CC offered a class for alumni, The Art of the Pitch. The premise was to \u201cbuild your creative concept from the ground up,\u201d to communicate that concept clearly, in a limited amount of time, captivating and selling others. The description of the class intrigued me, as did the idea of going back, if only for a few days. I wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n
Patrick Bultema, executive director of Innovation@CC, and Steve Hayward, associate professor of English, taught in true CC style, imparting their knowledge, sharing their experiences, and pushing us to transform our learnings into our own interpretation. One of my favorite things about CC is how exposure to new content is complemented by translation into everyday inspiration. With that, here are some nuggets of inspiration I learned throughout \u2014 and tucked into my pocket for safekeeping.<\/p>\n
Takeaway One: Sometimes ideas evolve. Sometimes ideas should go extinct. As we engage in new experiences, our ideas form, morph, and develop. Some of these ideas mutate into something more powerful and robust. Others, not so much. Sometimes an idea\u2019s purpose is to sprout other ideas and then fade into the background. We should thank each for its contribution and then let it go.<\/p>\n
Takeaway Two: Keep it simple, elegantly so. There is a turquoise sticky note on my office wall. It reads \u201cElegantly Simple.\u201d I write curriculum for K-12 science classrooms \u2014 material that is taught in my absence. So it\u2019s important that it\u2019s simple enough to understand and implement, but complex enough to engage and inspire. On the second day of class, Patrick applied the idea of elegance in simplicity to the concept of a pitch. What you present to others has to be portrayed so simply they can not only understand the idea, but can also picture how it would work. When I verbally share a new idea, it\u2019s like laying my brain on the table. Tangled, continually morphing,messy. Presenting an idea in an elegantly simple package takes meticulous planning and lots of practice. Our ideas have to stumble before they can stand.<\/p>\n
Takeaway Three: New experiences lead to new opportunities. Steve, alongside a couple of fellow CC professors, host the radio show \u201cCritical Karaoke,\u201d a program that \u201cuses music to offer a fresh take on issues and ideas confronting artists and audiences today.\u201d Through my class pitch idea and our surrounding conversations, my interest in how access to language provides exposure to new ideas and opportunities to engage surfaced. Steve asked if I might want to contribute to the\u00a0 \u201cCritical Karaoke\u201d project. I accepted. A new opportunity for us both.<\/p>\n
Takeaway Four: Expose yourself to things that make you uncomfortable. I entered expecting to sit back, listen, and learn. Which means I had totally forgotten the way educational experiences work at CC. My pitch idea was loosely developed, existing predominately in my head. Trying to accurately explain it out loud made me realize how knotted it still was. Clearly articulating ideas and being precise in your description is a bit painful. And I\u2019ll admit, my idea wasn\u2019t completely polished by the time I pitched it but the productive struggle reminded me of something: Pushing yourself makes you uncomfortable, but the resulting growth feels so good.<\/p>\n
Thank you, CC. Again.<\/p>\n
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