A Girl Who Builds Worlds

I. Making Do

I remember clearly the day that my robotics team went to competition. I remember because our foreheads dripped with sweat from running back and forth to get supplies in the dry heat of an unconditioned high school cafeteria on a Saturday morning.

We specifically had a lunch table that sat next to large sunny windows which offered a scenic view of the rain-stained courtyard.

Our robot had failed this first match, as we couldn’t complete many of the objectives that other teams accomplished.

We were underfunded, unprepared, and even more so, unequipped.

Our robot could grab objects, sure, if the duct tape and rubber band system held up. Even then, our Arduino eventually overheated, and we burnt out a fuse due to the mess of wires that dragged on the ground.

I admit, it was a Long shot at best that our robot, which miraculously broke down, was going to spontaneously fix itself, but it was just as much of a miracle when we tweaked the code, replaced the rubber bands, and virtually rebuilt our robot in a matter of 30 minutes.

Months of careful testing, design, and mathematics went down the drain; our success depended on the heat of the moment.

My team, as good as any, worked in several parts to efficiently get anything done. I was working with the engineering and intel side of the team at the time. I would analyze our robot’s flaws and strengths during every match while the rest of my team scrambled for parts.

After sharing my discoveries with my team, we would brainstorm ideas on how to improve the accuracy of our creation, and while they were building from my suggestions, I would rendezvous with our randomly selected team for the next match.

These were daunting tasks that Vik (my partner) and I set out to do because we were the most efficient in communicating and negotiating different ideas. Our efforts became a success as we improved our robot drastically through this process.

Robotics, to me, is another way to express a creative type of thinking that is rare throughout society today. Yet creativity itself acts as a treasure; all creative thoughts were once another man’s trash.

To truly make the most out of imagination, one must be bold and confident in their own ideas and creations, much like what I have learned to do throughout my years.

II. Little Moments, Big Dreams

I must say that it started when I was younger, around 5 or 6, when I would clearly like to take emotions and surroundings and write them down into my princess Ariel print journal.

I didn’t speak much to many friends and I didn’t think that the “choo choo” song was ever going to be sung outside of my bedroom but I later developed a want to share these works.

My best friend at the time was named Kirsten; she and I eventually explored our tastes in the arts when, on that Wednesday, she signed us up for the talent feature in that week’s Pep rally.

I was overjoyed that my brashly written song that we had been humming for weeks was going to be performed, and I invited my parents to come watch the pep rally as a surprise.

My mom did show up that Friday evening to my school, but it wasn’t for the starlight performance of my first actual song; it was to leave early for an overdue dentist’s appointment.

That entire weekend I sulked from my misfortune, and by Sunday I had written down more in my Journal to somehow let these feelings of regret and sadness leave me through my pen.

On the Monday that I went back to school, Kay came bounding to me in a frenzy of recollections from Friday. It was true that she was a gifted singer, but back then I was the only one of us who could sing the upper octave, and she could sing the lower.

I was anticipating her embarrassment, rage, and complaints when I saw her, but instead she ran up to me and expressed that although she wished I was there, the song was a success.

The kids in the halls looked up to her now as talented; she no longer had stage fright, and she felt confident in her singing abilities.

Despite being upset over what could’ve been, I found a certain nostalgic joy that came from me sharing any kind of work that I created.

There were other times in elementary school when I felt my creative works affect others, as I entered art contests, tried boat-building experiments, and tested out my hand at running my own business; the most rewarding of these to share was my poetry.

In the fifth grade, I learned all sorts of ways that poetry could be executed, from rhyme patterns to types of poems and even the way that some stanzas were able to roll off of my tongue.

I thought of it like writing a rap song with some point of focus, and I tended to excel compared to my peers at composing compelling poetry.

This was the type of creativity that I was best at producing, because it evoked complex thoughts, such as feelings, into something simple that everyone can understand.

III. Becoming a Creator

The 8th grade was where all of these creative ways of thinking were truly combined into who I am today.

My animation and competitive robotics classes allowed me to express my artistic and practical lines of thinking, where I was able to complete an objective, while my English class at the time satisfied any other kinds of expression.

We focused on creating plays, writing personal narratives, but most of all, sharing our creative work for the week on Fridays. Every Friday, there was about 20 minutes of freewriting, and we were supposed to volunteer or be selected to share our work.

Some weeks I would share poems that hinted at the common feelings of being lost at that time and finding who we are; others I would share a parody that I wrote to a Taylor Swift song, but my most prized work of that year was the novel that I had been working on.

Because I did only work on it for maybe 20 minutes every other day, it wasn't very long- 6 chapters, to be specific- but everyone in the class was astonished.

I had created what would be the start of my first and failed novel.

This ability for innovative thought only grew with time as I started to publish my poetry on a blog that I started in the 9th grade that held various literary works from short stories to my thoughts on the society of today.

The robotics club helped me to foster my random ideas into something tangible, and the writers' guild allowed me to publish my short stories locally.

I can only hope to finish and publish my novels. My creative endeavors allow me to express a side of myself that stays hidden, the side that can create something better for society as a whole.

I define myself through my creativity because whenever I find joy in doing anything, it involves my creative thoughts.

I could spend hours pitching journals full of company ideas, writing about the adventures of Rai and April in my newest novel, or even daydreaming about future societies and problems.

I have been gifted with the ability to think about what others will not, and compose ideas from these incomplete thoughts.

From the Journal

Originally written during my school years, this reflection is a little glimpse into the person I was becoming. I've kept much of it as I first wrote it, because sometimes our younger selves have something worth remembering.