Discovering the World

I truly learned about the world during my experience in Boulder, Colorado, for Odyssey of the Mind. Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten through college, who work at length to solve a predefined problem and present their solution at a competition. I joined the program in October of 2004, with our task being to create two vehicles that could bypass a certain obstacle course. Five months of hard work later, my group put our machines to the task, and not only successfully completed the course, but also garnered the title of second place, which entitled us to compete two months later in Boulder! After much debate between parents, we finally opted to go for it, and compete at World Finals in May, with people from around the globe.
With only two months to prepare, we worked more strenuously than ever, working for days on revising and creating the perfect contraptions to excel in the upcoming contest. Finally, we were satisfied with our work, and left for Colorado on Memorial Day weekend of 2005. Once we arrived, we had several days before the challenge, and took the time to explore the University of Boulder, where we were staying. At Odyssey of the Mind, it is customary to trade “pins”, or certain representations of one’s state, with other states and countries. My teammates and I spent the next few days trying to obtain the “coolest” and most “valuable”, or rare pins. I collected an assortment from states such as Florida and California, and countries as diverse as Iceland, Poland, Russia, and Singapore. We spent our days doing homework that we were missing, hanging out, and enjoying all the activities and opportunities. When the day came to test our creations, we were ready. We came out at twenty-sixth overall in the world for our project, an accomplishment that I am truly proud of. When we finally returned home, I was saddened to leave, but proud of what we had all done.
I learned so much from Odyssey of the Mind, but not just about knowledge; I learned about friendship. Through this once-in-a-lifetime experience, I was able to meet brilliant, unique people from around the world; people just like me. These select few will be the ones who change our world; these cream of the crop. This collaboration of many countries and peoples to forward the advance of knowledge is an example to all that we can work together as a species to achieve a greater good. I learned how similar we all really are, no matter what race or nationality we represent. Through trading “pins”, those who knew English could also trade stories and different aspects of one’s country. I discovered how amazing and kind the world really is. This unique experience has dramatically shaped the way that I view the word, and helped me to be a more understanding person through observing how alike we as a race really are. I believe that we can obtain peace if we all just sit down and try to understand one another and our varying views. All we have to do is make the effort.