The Gradual Growth of a Change Agent

How the magic of UIF changed people’s lives

By Marcela C. Yeckle Damian, Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología; University Innovation Fellow

All the Fellows I’ve talked to agree when I say we were different people before the UIF program. During the training, we had a great opportunity to learn tools and methodologies that contribute to our I&E mindset and how to apply them to different kinds of projects. Also, it is important to say that becoming a Fellow involves more than one person. I considered the Faculty Champion, our UIGuides, and the headmasters of the program as the main support of who we are now. I felt this experience was a gradual growth of a future change agent.

“Nothing can push you away from what is meant for you” was an excellent quote I saw when I was doing the application for the UIF program. At this particular moment, I was really insecure. Even though I knew all my abilities and had lots of projects in mind, I didn’t have the braveness of making it real. Nevertheless, getting accepted was the first part of all my development as a person.

During the first week of training, I could clearly identify my “why” — giving the students innovative tools to improve their university experience — and put so much effort into my projects and objectives. Moreover, I got inspired by all my college teammates’ inspirations, telling their histories and future projections. Since that day, I knew I made the right decision.

Three weeks later, after explaining the ways my school was creating virtual communities for students, one of my colleagues told me to check the review of the first training session. When I saw it, I just wanted to say: “Mom, I’m on the cover page.” The program leaders featured all the activities I had been doing as the spokeswoman of my major during the pandemic. It was the first time I realized the activities I had been involved in the past had really a big impact on many people. Even though I was facing challenges like the appearance of COVID-19, being really far from home (this is another story), and experiencing some sentimental issues, I was able to handle it and push myself to do things that improve the environment in which I lived.

Day by day I was falling in love with the program. The Design Thinking session gave me the opportunity to innovate based on developing empathy for people in my surroundings. Also, the Landscape Canvas session made me realize the necessity of making projects at my school related to makerspaces, technology and industrial spaces, and more academic activities focused on spreading the concept of I&E to students.

As a result, I decided to create an innovative space to let people express their ideas. The next few days would be the initial part of a great adventure. One week later, I put my hands on work, and I have never done so many interviews. I pushed my boundaries to make a good project, and the final result was better than I expected. I had met the objective of doing a collaborative project related to my major, I was aware the “Explore Room” (now “Design Lab”) will benefit hundreds of people in my university.

When we presented our efforts at the stakeholder meeting, in the ultimate seconds of our speech, I felt all my cohort’s nerves. The positive and supportive comments of every administrator made me almost cry. They decided to support us, and THAT was the point where I understood I had underestimated myself the whole time.

This program pushed away all my fears and doubts, and motivated me to inspire others and participate in new international experiences. I was able to think far away from my frontiers and use this knowledge to contribute to the benefit of my country. I applied these methodologies to design quality infrastructure for people who need it the most. The last thing I can say is don’t mistrust your abilities, push away all the fears — the best is yet to come.