Experimental Fallacies by Anmol

Experimental Fallacies by Anmol - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

I could not speak. I could not move. I couldn't even form coherent thoughts in my head. It was as if my whole body was shutting down.

As the judge approached me and asked me what my project was, everything went blank. I managed to stutter out a vague explanation. I explained how many people are worried about the harmful health effects of technology because of radio frequency radiation, but I failed to mention how I set up my experiment.

Almost immediately, the judge began to criticize my project. First and foremost, he attacked the title: "Are Smart Meters Health Smart?". My project was not about health or biology, but about physics and ionizing radiation. He went on to criticize the experiment itself and how most of it was just common sense that everyone should know. I just stood there silently and let him continue to shred my self - esteem into tiny pieces.

I went on later to win first prize at my school district science fair after taking all of the judge's criticisms to heart. I constantly analyzed my project and formulated questions that the new judges might ask me.

I didn't get an award that first school science fair, but I will always be grateful to that judge. He showed me all of the faults of my project, and he reminded me that science fair is not supposed to be easy.