Alum Alyssa Woodman: Forging a Path at Tesla in Cars and AI

Alum Alyssa Woodman: Forging a Path at Tesla in Cars and AI

by | Jan 25, 2024 | Alumni, Curriculum, In the News

Interview by Nita June for School Renewal Magazine

Reprinted with permission.

Born in Germany, Woodman grew up in the Bay Area, and attended Waldorf School of the Peninsula (WSP) in Mountain View, California, from kindergarten through Grade 8. For high school, she spent one year
at a German international school and the last three at San Francisco Waldorf High School, commuting to the city every day for three-plus hours because she loved Waldorf so much. Woodman attended Drexel University in Philadelphia for a BS in Design and Merchandising and then worked at a software start up, working up to project manager in two years.

She then joined Tesla as a project manager in low voltage harness engineering. Nine years later, Woodman has worked her way through various departments (vehicle engineering, sales operations, new markets, engineering finance) to find her way back to engineering, this time on the Dojo project leading a team of PMs in building a supercomputer to accelerate autopilot AI training. She joined the board of WSP several years ago, which she says, “has given her a huge appreciation for the
infinite work from faculty and staff to make the Waldorf magic happen!”

How did the Waldorf teaching approach support the development of your analytical mind? Instead of being given text books that held facts to learn by rote, we dove into topics from source material and first
principles. Physics, chemistry, and biology main lessons always started with an experiment, observing and measuring the results, posing hypotheses and testing those again until we could confirm or deny our assumptions. History and humanities started with a question, or a story, or belief system that was researched, discussed, reflected on in the context of the time and culture. Learning in this investigative way keeps you curious and perceptive, open to new ideas and willing to challenge given assumptions.

“Engineering is ultimately a
creative, problem-solving,
and collaborative pursuit that
very much reminds me of my
time at [Waldorf].”

How did the study of arts, movement and music impact your journey? I can’t say that I was very musically gifted (my parents may remember a particularly embarrassing flute solo presentation freshman year in high school), but I very much enjoyed painting, knitting, sculpture, weaving, basketry, stained glass and many other visual/practical arts. On the one hand, just the joy and freedom of creating something from a blank piece of paper or a set of raw materials, bringing your ideas and imagination to life, getting your hands dirty and having direct and immediate impact on the materials. But also practically working through a design concept, hitting snags or mistakes along the way, adjusting or adapting your methods, or simply learning to accept a different outcome than the one you originally imagined; these are all lessons that artistic pursuits slowly teach us one painting or knitted sock at a time. I have adjusted my personal path many times, and I consider flexibility and adaptability one of my greatest assets. I have little doubt that artistic endeavors are a key to developing those skills.

How did the well-rounded, liberal arts focus of a Waldorf school shape your decision to work in the field of science/tech? Honestly, I still don’t know what I “want to be when I grow up!” But along the way, I did learn that I enjoy “real work”—designing things, building things, fixing things—and so my gradual transition from design arts, through various roles, back to engineering was less of a single decision and more of a journey through trial and error to find a role that keeps me engaged, challenged, and constantly learning.

Engineering is ultimately a creative, problem-solving, and collaborative pursuit that very much reminds me of my time at school. Part of my struggle as a Waldorf graduate was that I felt I could go in so many directions, it was hard for me to choose a major for college, and tough to choose where to look for my first job. I have always been a tad envious of people who know exactly what they want to do, and can map a path forward based on those goals. I have had to embrace my ‘jack of all trades’ tendencies, and make choices and course corrections as they arise. The exciting thing is I still feel like I could go in many different directions with my life and career, and am looking forward to the next adventure when it finds me!

How would you describe rigor in a Waldorf school? Subtle. I never felt pressured to do more or be better, but the environment brings out the best in you. Teachers who are passionate about their subjects, fellow  students whose skills and abilities inspire your own growth and development, and a climate that encourages exploration while supporting failure. I don’t think I missed a single day of high school, and walking through the hallways of the WSP high school now makes me want to go back!

Does AI make Waldorf Schools More Relevant?

by | Nov 22, 2023 | Curriculum, Elementary School, High School, Middle School

by Marina Budrys | High School Humanities Teacher

What is the future of education if artificial intelligence can write essays, give quick answers to whatever questions we have, and translate languages instantaneously? Is schooling, the way we know it, on its way out? Are we holding onto a system of the past?

Before I answer these questions, we need to address what the real purpose of K-12 schooling is. Because if it is possible to write an essay, know who was instrumental in starting the American Revolution, and chat with someone while traveling in Spain, then maybe ChatGPT and others like it will replace education systems. ChatGPT can write an essay, it can give us historical information and it can (and will become even more adept) at speaking in different languages. We don’t really have a need for schooling the way it is now if that is our goal.

But, what if the real purpose of schooling is something different? If the goal of writing a six page essay in 12th grade has a lot more to do with showcasing individual voice, unique perspective, and relational thinking, then the actual finished product is not the aim. Rather, it is the process that the student engages with along the way. It is the comments they make during class discussions, the comparisons they notice between Octavia Butler and Cormac McCarthy’s dystopian novels, and the observations they turn into theses. The culminating essay is merely a means for the internal capacities to be made visible. Prompting ChatGPT to write it doesn’t build new neural connections or advance synthesizing capacities in the way that writing an essay does. The thinking grows throughout the course, and what becomes important to each student is what their own free mind comes to.

If education is more about intellectual development and social development than knowledge acquisition, then we have an entirely different task in front of us. ChatGPT no longer becomes pivotal to the question. Instead, what becomes important is what ensures that someone succeeds in an unpredictable world. It is less about memorization of a list of facts, and more about the ability to find out what the most important next step in the problem is. It is less adherence to a certain structure and more the flexibility to discover an evolved or new structure. It is not only doing things by yourself in a room, but also finding a way to work with a group of 18 other people that have as much individuality as you. These are capacities we build when human development is prioritized.

If anything, the development and advancement of large language models makes Waldorf more relevant than ever. You may have heard it said that Waldorf is about developing humans to be their highest selves and this is true. That means their highest potential in their brain, their body, and their heart. Every part of the Waldorf education (in its striving form) seeks to give space for this to happen for each individual student.

It is radical that Rudolf Steiner never wanted teachers to teach his philosophy (Anthroposophy) to students. He didn’t think that any way of thinking about the world should be taught. There is a deeper wisdom to this, Steiner didn’t ever want anyone to be told how to think about the world. That discovery is for each and every individual to come to on their own. Artificial Intelligence is an incredible tool for humanity’s progress. But it does not change the need for them to reach their highest neural potential first. We still need to develop our brains and our bodies in a way that helps us be free actors in the world. With deep fakes, an overwhelming number of opinions in news reporting, and biased data statistics, we need the ability to make our own decisions more freely than ever. We need to freely decide who we want to be and how we want to exist in the world.

Waldorf Schools focus on human centered education. That can sometimes be misunderstood to mean that technology is not important. But in Waldorf education, technology is not the enemy but is a tool that should enhance, not inhibit, the purpose of education: the development of free thinking. Brilliant human beings created AI. I am excited to see the amazing things our students will do with AI for medical care, for legal proceedings, for solving climate change and of course, for guiding the ethical implementation of AI.