The Power of Perspective by Klarissa

The Power of Perspective by Klarissa - March 2024 Scholarship Essay

Working in a summer school program for elementary school students proved to be an eye-opening experience, particularly when I would closely interact with the children. In the summer of 2023, I was offered to work as an assistant at Kerman Enrichment Summer Adventures, more commonly known as KESA. There, I specifically worked with kindergarten students in and outside the classroom. Each day, we engaged in activities designed to stimulate their minds, though many of these tasks had straightforward solutions. While most of the children quickly caught on, Mia proved to be an exception to the rule.

Don’t get me wrong, she was a bright child, but while the rest of the class finished their activity and moved on to free play, Mia stayed behind in class to finish her task. At first, I thought she was a slow learner and needed the aid of someone older, such as myself. I would go to her to suggest ways she can complete the activity, such as “Why don’t we start here” or “Have you tried this way”. Despite my efforts, the lightbulb still didn't click for her. It was about this time when I would step in and walk her through the activity step by step so that the rest class could move on.

A couple of days later, the process would remain the same. The teacher would present an assignment for the kindergarteners to solve such as building a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows or making a birdhouse, and Mrs. Vang or I would have to put in extra time with Mia. It wasn’t a bad thing, it was just something that was out of the ordinary. Why was Mia having difficulties?

One day, Mrs. Vang asked the class if they wanted to learn how to make a paper airplane. Jumping with excitement, the kids said yes. I pulled Mrs. Vang aside and asked if Mia fell behind again if I could work with her independently, while the rest of the class moved on. I don’t know why I asked this, but I felt some sort of discomfort when thinking about how Mia hadn’t completed an activity on her own. With patience, I observed Mia's attempts to create an airplane without intervening or demonstrating the conventional method. It wasn't until 30 minutes later that she approached me, asking if I had a straw. “A straw?”, I repeated confusingly. I didn’t have one on me at the time, of course, so Mia and I went to the cafeteria to ask if we could have a straw. When we came back to the classroom, Mia grabbed her straw and put it in between the paper folds of the plane. She then blew into the straw, and her creation flew.

It was then that I realized that her approach to problem-solving often diverged from conventional methods, something that Mrs. Vang and I structured our whole lesson plan on. When we saw Mia taking different routes to complete the activity, we thought she was doing “wrong” and we would redirect her, but that wasn’t true. She was trying to solve the activity in her unique way, which accounted for the additional time she would devote to assignments compared to her classmates. Her tendency to think outside the box and explore unconventional solutions seemed impractical to me at first, but rather than dismissing Mia’s ideas, I made an effort to understand her thought process.

Throughout the summer, I continued to embrace Mia’s unusual thinking in future activities, and she did not fail to impress me with her outcomes. Who would have thought that working with kindergartners would teach me the importance of embracing different perspectives? Mia challenged my rigid mindset and expanded my understanding of problem-solving. I learned that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to any problem that comes my way. It’s funny to think that even young adults can learn something from kids.