Free Time- Key to Success

The cover story on my latest "Texas A&M Engineering News" (Summer 2010) tells of a young man who founded a mobile app business soon after college. For his popular mobile shopping app, ShopSavvy, he won the 2008 Google Android Developer Challenge, earning a $275,000 prize. His name is Rylan Barnes.

What led up to Rylan being able to do this? He says, "I always wanted to build things, and even during free time at A&M, I was always on my computer building something new." He also says, "Looking back on my computer engineering coursework, perhaps the most critical skill professors helped me develop was learning to teach myself. Because technology changes so quickly, it's something I do every day."

Of course this article caught my eye and my interest! He is such an example! First, his internal motivation and drive caused him to spend his free time in college working on computer programs. All accomplishments take time and effort, and this often means spending free time working on a project. To this young man working is fun! As he closes the article he says, "In short, I get paid to do what I love." When you are doing something you enjoy the time flies and it doesn't feel like work.

He built his current business on what he learned in a venture he made in college. He created a website called Textbook-Trader.com, for students to buy and sell used textbooks. The life of a student provides free time and freedom to think and do things the way you want to. Freedom brings creativity. He is currently an entrepreneur and co-founded a company that recognizes the importance of creativity and encourages it.

Another thing I noticed is that Rylan gives credit to others for his successes. None of us would be where we are today without the help of others. It is great to see him acknowledge this support. In this short article he credits to A&M, his professors and an Aggie for helping him achieve his success.

Since RoboDesigners' teams enter challenges, I think it's cool that he entered the Google App challenge. This young man was not only aware the Google opportunity existed but also worked hard to enter. When I look through the rest of this newsletter, I see stories of others who have entered engineering contests. These contests are great motivators for learning, while identifying who the up and coming engineers will be! If I were a company looking to hire engineers, this is where I'd be looking!

However, the part that really caught my eye is where he said that self-teaching was perhaps the most critical skill he learned! To some this could be a surprising statement, since don't you go to school/college to be taught? When we think of school, we typically imagine teachers pouring facts into students' heads. But college is different. As a student, you might have some guidance and help, but the student carries the responsibility for learning, not the teacher. It reminds me of the saying... Give a man a fish and he will eat one day, teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Teaching people how to teach themselves is way more valuable!

Hopefully this is what we are accomplishing at RoboDesigners-- sparking an interest in technology, learning through hands-on work in contests and challenges, and starting early in laying a foundation for future work. The RoboDesigners teams have all been comprised of home educated students. Although each home school is different, generally I find that many of these kids do know how to teach themselves. They also have free time in their schedule to be creative and think. Robotics competitions, and home education are two effective means to develop the technology leaders of tomorrow.

I encourage you to think about how you spend your free time. Or do you even have free time? Each day is an opportunity, a valuable resource, that we can use for good or waste. Are you planting seeds today for a future harvest? Don't wait around for someone else to teach you what you need to know. Take initiative and make it happen!