Innovation Amidst Water Assaults by Emily

Innovation Amidst Water Assaults by Emily - June 2024 Scholarship Essay

I was drenched in the numbing, freezing water. It was a cold, windy night in October, and my creative resolution had hit the jackpot–or, this case, hit me right between the eyes.

As Key Club president, I assist in charity work for various organizations. One of those organizations is the Pediatric Trauma Program (PTP). Our usual fundraiser for this charity is selling Krispy Kreme donuts at our hosted football games. However, due to complications beyond our control, we were denied access to offer donuts at the games. The event, which raises just under $1000 for PTP, was a no-go. As a result, we needed a new idea to raise money for PTP, and we needed it quickly.

Fortunately, every year my high school hosts a Trunk or Treat charity event in the student parking lot. Each organized club creates a game, sets an entry price, and invites local kids to play. While leading the weekly board meeting, I brought up games we could host for the annual event. Some of the suggestions were the usual: Corn Hole, bowling, Tic-Tac-Toe. Nothing exciting. I left that meeting without a clue of what to do about our “donut disaster”.

After many hours of fruitless brainstorming, I collapsed into bed. As I stared at the weird shapes on my ceiling, the idea came instantly. "What if I let the kids throw water balloons at me?" I knew this plan was just crazy enough to work.
When the night came, people of all ages lined up to throw water balloons at me. It was a success! Though soaked and shivering, I was filled with pride as we raised hundreds of dollars for PTP.

From that moment on, I knew creativity can be defined as a list of impossible ideas before one finds the right one. It is a rigorous process one must go through to develop innovative solutions for such problems. From then on I used creative thinking inside the classroom, when working on group projects, solving calculus problems, and more. My last-minute idea achieved our charitable goal while building camaraderie with my fellow club members, several of whom paid to take aim at their very cold, but happy Key Club President.