How are you involved with the Keller Center?
I am involved with the Keller Center through my Tiger Challenge group, Alternatives to Opioids. As you can probably tell by the name of the group, we are a team that is working on the question "How might we help chronic pain patients access safer, more affordable, and more efficient ways to manage their pain?" It is a 2-year project, done in a team of five and under the guidance of the Tiger Challenge group. We are given tools for design thinking, which includes a rough timeline for the project. Currently, we are in the research phase of our project, and we will move on to synthesis, ideation, then prototyping soon.
Share an inspiring story about your time at the Keller Center.
For our research portion of the project, I had to interview many different stakeholders in the issue. It really touched me to speak with the chronic pain patients who wanted to share their experiences. Through various interviews with them, the potential real-world impact of our Tiger Challenge project really became clear. The patients would often express hope and joy at the fact that there were young people that were working at improving their well being. This gradually became the base of my motivation for working on the project with the Keller Center.
What advice would you have for students about getting involved at the Keller Center?
I personally had no experience with entrepreneurship or startups and the like before getting involved with the Keller Center. Nonetheless, I am more than happy that I am now working on such a meaningful project in Tiger Challenge. Advice I would have for students looking to get involved at the Keller Center is to just go for it if you feel like you want to make a meaningful impact. You don't need much experience, as long as you have a passion or driving force that will keep you committed to your project and resilient through challenges.