The days are still ongoing and with each day we learn new things. We’ve had a lot of sessions today and they are all basically interactive sessions. It feel a bit more comfortable now, because of how we are grouped into teams to discuss and present on topics of discussion has made me more able to interact with others. I am also able to take advice and coaching sessions from coaches, which have also helped me to be more interactive and friendly. I think AIX is my life saver.
I feel like a lot is happening but then the days are moving slowly. I mean it’s only the second day and it’s one of the most engaging and mind opening two days of my life. For starters, we didn’t have aerobics (yay!). I really do enjoy aerobics; it’s just the waking up before 5: 30am that I’m not too pumped about. But overall, I actually enjoyed Monday’s session so I’m kind of looking forward to tomorrow.
For me, Design was my favorite session of the day. I was able to think wildly, crazily and ideas outside the box. Our project presentation showed a lot of creativity. Conversation tables during lunchtime was very interesting as it helped spark some interesting discussions. The evening debate session was very interactive.
Well… I lied. It’s as if today was a thousand times better, but how’s that possible when AIX freestyle night was almost too good to be true? It is 10:30am and I am here grinning from ear to ear and surprisingly making tons of cute friends and having decent conversations, an effort to make me come out of my nutshell and speak up.
The session on leadership through the Ted-talk made us learn that opportunity to create prosperity can be found anywhere. The activities allowed me to assess myself, which made me realize that I prefer coaching and democracy because I like to hear everyone’s ideas and bring them on board. In terms of followership, I believe it is important to meet the leader halfway, so it brings the positive vibe.
We began the day with aerobics from our coach Padi. The day continued and we learnt about self-awareness and self-discovery. We were divided into cohorts and we continued with lessons on lateral thinking and creativity. By the way I am in cohort B. The best. Actually… “B is the best, the best among the rest. B is for bars, we shine among the stars. Can they fit? Never!” That is our chant. And how can I forget the AIX freestyle? The fun we had and how creative we were.
My quote for the day was, “I am able to control that which I am aware of. That which I am unaware of controls me. Awareness empowers me.” Communication and public speaking was an eye opening topic since it exposed me to my audibility. There is also a board called the Gbaa board where for every mistake made by a coach with any word, a point is added to his or her name on the leaderboard. It reduces stress and anxiety since it makes the speaker laugh of embarrassing comments they made.
A bit more confident today. I learnt about leadership in the morning specifically creating prosperity and building initiatives. Then I went on to discover my leadership and fellowship preferences. We later had to put our values to voice. Personally, my values remain loyalty, love, respect and service. By speaking to Ashesi Alumni, I gathered ways to avoid certain mistakes of life and ways to be a better person.
So far AIX has been very engaging from aerobics to meeting new people. I am gradually getting more comfortable with moving out of my comfort zone into my learning zone and finding ways to cope when I am in the panic zone.
Second day at Ashesi and I woke up hearing “AEROBICS!!!” It was very tiring, but honestly everyone’s energy just made everything bearable. Started to learn more about myself and how I need to be more aware of everything. We ended the day with a freestyle called “AIX Freestyle” that was so much fun and honestly, it opened up everyone so much more. I love it.
The day kicked off learning about the three different zones of experience: comfort zone, learning and panic zone. I mostly find myself in the comfort zone because it’s safe and I don’t have to take risks. However I learnt that no learning takes place in the comfort zone. At the same time, I realized that there are things I wish to do but because it’s uncomfortable I retract. I realized this because I was made to write the things that I would like to do in all the zones. I am determined to use the ABCD approach to step into the learning zone and seek help when I step into the panic zone. Even though, it wouldn’t be so easy, I hope AIX helps me to reach my goal.
Day one was so interesting because I learnt a lot. I learnt that there is power in the tongue and just like the President of Ashesi, you work toward the plan you have in words and mind. AIX is extraordinary because academics are blended with games to keep you active and bring you back on board when you lose focus. Coaches contributed to my happiness and comfortability. With their energetic and open-minded character, they made us feel at home and that was superb. By that, it clearly spells out the fact that you can actually contribute to someone’s happiness.
I was really excited about AIX and was really hyped because of the experiences and comments that former AIX participants and other people had shared with me. At the Accra mall, I boarded the second bus to Ashesi even though there was a bit of a delay. When we finally arrived at Ashesi, we were welcomed by amazing coaches who took us through the registration process. After registration and lunch, we headed to the Norton Motulsky hall, where we were welcomed by the Dean, faculty and coaches, and we watched an amazing performance from our wonderful coaches.
Before I arrived at Ashesi for the AIX program, from the videos I watched on YouTube on the past AIX experiences, I thought AIX was just an event for people who have experiences in tertiary life and are from private schools with different curriculums. But when I arrived here at Ashesi, I realized that AIX does not care about who you are or where you’re from but on what you can do and how you could become a better person.
Coming to AIX, I didn’t really have any expectations because my expectations never end up being met. I just said I’ll take whatever came my way. Though I had seen videos from previous years, I still didn’t know what to expect. Having an open mind, I was able to make friends during lunch even before the main event had started and met even more new people during our coaching sessions. All in all, Sunday went well, being the first day and all.
Being introduced to the honor code as part of the ground rules such as “No stealing, lying and cheating and not tolerating others that do so”, I thought this was a nice initiative because it was going to make me accountable to myself.
Question 1: How was your first day at AIX?
It was a bit overwhelming because I am not used to being around a lot of people my age, but I was comfortable because I knew some of my friends were here. I was not as comfortable as I would have wanted to be but the first day was good. I could see that AIX was going to be a fun experience – to be specific, it was the energy that led me to believe that it was going to be fun. I was nervous but excited.
Question 2: What were your expectations?
I thought AIX would be just full of learning, but when I watched the coaches perform (or, more specifically, dance), that expectation was altered. It helped me realize that there would be a lot of enjoyment and that it wouldn’t just be about books. I didn’t have very high hopes when I arrived, but Ashesi well surpassed what little I did have.
Question 3: What was your most exciting day at AIX last week?
Technically speaking, my most thrilling day was a night. That evening was Karaoke night. Even though I couldn’t speak that night since I had lost my voice, I was still drawn to perform with a friend since I loved seeing everyone else perform. We had a great time.
Question 4: What was your favourite challenge last week?
The water propulsion task from last week was my favorite since I was so perplexed by the supplies they gave us: plastic plates and cups, straws, balloons, pegs, and rubber ties. I’ve got a balloon. The object should be moving; flying is not what it should be doing. What then do I do?
One of my team members came up with a really great idea, but we weren’t entirely sure if it would actually work. However, when we tried our hands on it, it appeared to be quite messy. We noticed that every other team had finished except for our team. We made an effort to complete our solution before deciding to test it during the testing time, and it was successful. We just went back to try to find out how to make our “boats” move from one place to the next significantly faster and without any human assistance (as per the rules stated). It was thrilling and really got us thinking. But it was much more exciting after we won.
Question 5: On that day, your team won all the challenges you partook in. How did that feel?
Honestly, when the day began, I was in a bad mood. The tick-tack toe was our first obstacle. I didn’t want to participate, but we eventually won. Although we won, I was still not all that happy about it, so I went on to the following tournament, which we also won. We succeeded in water propulsion, as mentioned. For the water propulsion, as aforementioned, we won. The final challenge was the marshmallow challenge. We kept it in the back of our minds how we had won the first two challenges and we were motivated to win the last one, so we approached the challenge with an open mind and enthusiasm. Also, the fact that everyone was looking up to us gave us the motivation to put in our best for the challenge.
Question 6: What is a day like at the AIX engineering module for you?
The first day was quite overwhelming because it was mainly theoretical. However, the subsequent days delt with the physical aspects of engineering and made me realise how much I want to pursue engineering in the future because everyday you are faced with new challenges which require you to engineer a solution and also use your creativity – which we have learnt about in the design module. Engineering is really interesting for me. Some may think it is boring but then it probably means that it is not for you. Also, I have learnt to appreciate the theoretical aspect more after we started the practical aspect because I have realised that without it, it would be very difficult for you to do the practical part.
Anna-Phina Dadson
While many people are thanking God it’s Friday, I thank God it’s not the end of AIX’22. So today was the day of our final challenge, where we were asked to design a solution to help a municipality curb the menace of flooding. My team and I came up with a brilliant idea where we created a robot that distils gutters and drains, recycles waste and works in tunnels and on land. During the coaching session, we spoke about one thing in the world we would love to change if we had the power to do so or if we could leave a legacy or be legends. For me, one thing I’d love to do in the world to impact lives is to provide potable drinking water to communities that are lacking this basic necessity. Also, I believe that one doesn’t have to be old or greatly experienced in life to leave a legacy. It’s rather dependent on the individual’s mindset and passion for his or her goal. To sum it all up, today was a day for unleashing all the locked-up “CREATIVITY”.
Omrinah Sampanbire Zae-anim
The Ashesi Innovation Experience (AIX) 