I worked for Ashesi University College in Ghana over the course of four weeks as part of the Ashesi Innovation Experience (AIX). AIX is an intense and exciting two-week enrichment program developed by faculty at Ashesi for senior high school students between the ages of 15 and 20.

My role was a coach, who were in closest contact with the participating students. The responsibilities of a coach were twofold. First, they made sure that the students were alright at all times and fully participating/socializing. Essentially, the coaches were something like camp counselors. Secondly, the coaches had to teach and monitor the progress of small student cohorts during their module sessions.

There were three modules: engineering, robotics, and entrepreneurship. I was assigned to engineering, where we oversaw the students as they constructed smart houses using Arduino boards and an array of sensors. While most of the students had never dealt with circuitry or programmed before, by the end of the program, they had learned Arduino C and basic electrical engineering concepts.