Imagination!!!
Act 1
My advice to kids wanting to participate in STEAM based competitions has always been: DO NOT DO technical challenges. On a given day, anything can go wrong, and technical snags are harder to manage during presentation than arts or engineering based performances. And, more so, my past experiences warrant my reasoning. Over the past years, on two separate occasions technical failures had led to my kids’ teams being eliminated.
So, when this year, the coach announced that the team will be working on a technical challenge yet again, honestly speaking, I was more than a bit apprehensive. Building a remote-controlled aircraft to drop five payloads from different spots, to build and design props and, finally to weave it all together in a story presented with theatrics is not your average elementary level stuff. But then kids are kids! They set their minds down to their task, and after months of brainstorming, imagining, researching, you-tubing, building, duct taping, cutting, sewing, 3-D printing, hot gluing, practicing, and re-imagining were ready. Ready to fly.
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly and touch the sun.
Act 2
“And you may begin now,” said the time keeper to kick off the team’s presentation. The clock started ticking on…onwards to the 8 minutes mark. The team took off, high on confidence, delivering their lines and acts to near perfection. Equally in sync were the drone’s flight and the drop offs. Amazing orchestration!
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly and touch the sun.
Drop number 1! On Target!!
Drop number 2! On Target!!
Confidence soaring, guns blazing, now the team was in full flight…so close to the sun.
Then came the dark clouds. On the third flight the drone refused to take off. It stopped, and with it the heartbeats of the kids, their coach, parents and all well-wishers in the audience. The “captain” tried his best to revive the drone, pushing buttons on his remote, but it simply refused to respond. At this point the team froze, the clock kept ticking and the chances to win, falling. However, out of nowhere, a ray of sunshine, sprouted through the clouds and jolted the team out of their stupor; the captain spurred the team to continue with the presentation. He and one other mate sat down next to the drone and tried different things, both solely focused to mend it, get it to fly, fly against the tides of time. Time ticked on, every passing second seemed like an eternity. And then all of a sudden, time stopped, something happened, and as if by magic the drone spurted back to life, and with it, the team’s spirits. Like a bear waking out of hibernation, the kids sprang back, completed the remaining 2 drops, punched through their dialogue and acting and concluded their presentation on a high note. The clouds gave way to a very bright sun, and a thundering applause from the audience and judges alike.
The team’s flight didn’t stop there, they went on to win the finals. It was a magical come back, but then kids see Magic, because they look for it, imagine it, and perform it, every day. Magic, it is at the core of children’s existence until they grow out of it and become adults.
Act 3
“So, what helped you resolve the issue?”, I asked the team later when it was all over. Let’s pause here for a bit and use some rationale. Some adult answers would have been: Not buckling under pressure, trying everything I could, knowing what to do under pressure etc. etc. But then kids are kids. They do not have the paradigms, boundaries, or the limitations of an adult mind. No, these free minds have not been confined yet to the bounds of adult limitations. The unanimous answer was “Imagination”. I know this is irrational. But it is simple for children. “We imagined we had the trophy in our hands.” “I imagined that the drone was flying again.” Imagination was their stimulus. As Einstein rightfully said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”
Life is an eternal teacher, we never stop learning, and at times learning comes from the least expected sources. These kids did teach me a lesson that I will never forget. Imagine a world without imagination!!!
Now, my advice to kids is to do any challenge you want to, but always bring loads of imagination with you. Everything else will follow and fall in place, and you will be on target. Always.
Courtesy:
Quotes: Albert Einstein, Christopher Moore
Song: Flight of Icarus: Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson
Based on true events, and the author’s imagination
Truth Speaks... 