Public Thoughts

When I was managing order fulfillment for the National Political Science Honor Society, I was responsible for ensuring that all the orders had the correct inventory in them. Naturally, mistakes were made, and some orders were sent out with missing items. When I noticed the mistake, either during an internal audit or when the recipient let us know, the first thing I did was reach out to the client and apologize for the mistake, making sure they understood that I was taking full responsibility for the error. Then, I would fulfill the order with the correct inventory and send it to the client with overnight shipping. The clients usually were understanding and glad that the correct order was on its way. I learned from these experiences that a sincere apology, where I take responsibility for my actions and their consequences, can go a long way in building a relationship with a client.

This week I have been reading the meditations by Descartes. Rene Descartes was a philosopher/mathematician during the 17th century. He wanted to prove that God exists, but many skeptics said how can you know anything, much less that God exists. From this doubt is born the popular phrase, "I think, therefore I am" or "Cogito, ergo sum". Descartes argues from the point of view of the skeptics that everything is unknown, but that we must at least concede that the act of thinking means my mind exists. Then he starts defining how we can know things with any degree of certainty. Once that is established he moves on to the existence of God. I can think of a triangle, a closed shape with three sides and 180 degrees within. If I stop thinking about a triangle, the concept of a triangle does not cease to exist. It remains, which means it exists outside myself. Similarly I can think of God, a perfect being whose nature is perfect. If I cease to think about God, he does not cea...

 I switched majors a few times from computer engineering to computer science to mechanical engineering, and I never felt like I was in the right major for me. I really enjoyed all the math classes I had taken while "major shopping", but I did not want to major in math because I thought the only job you can get with a math degree was teaching or research. ACME is a perfect intersection between between math and technology and exactly what I had been looking for. ACME was a great fit for me because you get to study math, which I love, but when you graduate you are employable pretty much anywhere. ACME teaches the math that you need to understand how machine learning and modeling work, which can be applied to any industry or field you are interested in. Something pretty cool about ACME is that you chose a concentration and take some high level courses to get an understanding of that field. You could do a concentration in Mechanical Engineering or Physics and those classes you hav...

Nothing improves in silence. Poor communication creates gaps in understanding and many of the major societal problems that we face are due to a lack of understanding. Good communicators can help others understand and be understood. They are peacemakers and conflict resolvers. Jesus Christ is a perfect example of a skilled communicator. He understood his audience perfectly and through the use of parables taught to the individuals that were prepared to hear his message. My dream is to be a problem solver, not a problem creator. Solving problems does no good if other people can’t understand why my solution is amazing! The brightest person in the world could solve the energy crisis tomorrow, but if they can’t communicate their solution to other people nothing improves. To have a positive impact on the world I need others to understand my solutions. This begins with my skills as a communicator. - Joe Housley