Post #3 - The best stories are the ones you can relate to most.

The best stories are the ones you can relate to most, because they are the ones you can learn from.

There's a direct relation between relating to a story, and being able to learn from it.

I have heard many, many inspirational stories from our guest speakers, Lars-Henrick, my fellow Nova SUM's, and people I've met here and there in Stockholm. It's the strongest means of communication, and delivering a message.

During Week #3, Carl Barstad was my favorite scheduled story.
Yes, we do have common friends, but listening to his story, I couldn't help but find myself at a similar cross-road he had been through and overcome with great success.

This was really powerful for me. Like Carl, I have an engineering background, but feel like most of my application of it was theoretical and non-technical. This is very disappointing for me, as it really wasn't what I had in mind when I enrolled as an engineer. I thought I would build things, I thought I could make tools and machines that would make healthcare better, and the world better.

Also like Carl, I have been infatuated with the TEDx frenzy, and the dynamic of the community, which as Carl said, "have the utter belief that they can change the world." Not just that, he was right about making that connection that the TEDx community was somehow entwined with this hackerspace movement, and the idea that it doesn't matter who you are and where you are, but you can build something, anything from scratch! How empowering is that to an individual? To a community?

My plans before I applied for the Nova Summer Internship were literally along those lines:

I am currently working with my hometown's municipality on community development and decided that the best told to engage youth within my community, was to open a local TEDxSidon. 

Also, I am currently approaching my graduation for my MS degree in engineering and have barely any clue on how to make electric magic that saves the world. I've been hanging around hackerspace communities since 2012, when I first came across this concept at SHAREBeirut through this dynamic individual called Bilal Ghalib, a common friend of Carl and mine. 

Basically, this community told me that I didn't have to come from anywhere particular, to go wherever it is that I wanted to go, in this case, be a hands-on hardware and software developer. 
Our chat with Carl helped me understand that it's ok to do a ton of things at once, as long as you're passionate about all of them, and you have good support. It also showed me that I should stop overthinking and start doing. Doing it big. And not looking back. 
Failure is a big part of success, I don't understand why I worry about it so much. Maybe it's my community, and the fact that everyone expects you to be great at what you do, especially if you took that radical risk of taking the road less traveled.

Xx,
Aisha