Thinking Outside the Box by Kendra

Thinking Outside the Box by Kendra - October 2018 Scholarship Essay

“Think outside the box”. Many have heard this saying before. This saying is usually used to stimulate creativity. What does it mean though? It is more than just sitting on the outside of a cardboard box while you think. To think outside of the box means that you don’t use commonly used ideas and it also is a challenge to think creatively.

To begin, thinking outside of the box means the ideas are not trendy or common. Let’s say that you were in a science class and there was an experiment project assigned. The assignment required the students to make their own original scientific study. The popular idea of an experiment today is making a baking soda volcano or making slime. However, that is not totally out of the box unless the student puts their own personal twist on it. They are not out of the box because they are widely known as a typical science project. If the project was made personal, like something the person uses on a daily basis, that would be “out of the box” compared to others. Common ideas even were out of the box once before they became popular. To be unique from everything else is to be outside of the box.

To continue, thinking outside of the box can also be viewed as a challenge to be creative. This may be uncomfortable to do because it is easier to just do what is orthodox. Creativity is to come up with new ideas, which can help when solving problems. One example of exercising thinking outside of the box is the growing craze, the escape room games. The trapped participants have to have an open mind on how to obtain the keys and codes to escape. Since the keys are meant to be hard to get, they have to look every place imaginable and unimaginable. Escape rooms help broaden the creative mind, which is what outside of the box should do. Thinking outside of the box is a calling to think creatively.

As you can see, to think outside of the box means to go outside the traditional thought process of everyone else. It also is a chance to exercise creativity. Go outside of the box and be different.