How To Deal With Kids by Leah

How To Deal With Kids by Leah - April 2022 Scholarship Essay

“What do you think?”

One of my mentees held up a sketch of his latest idea: an innovative, vending-machine style fridge. A screen on the fridge doors allows the hungry individual to view what lies inside. With the selection of the right buttons, the desired food pops out.

Intrigued, I questioned, “How exactly will food pop out?”

After a minute of thought and occasional sketches, he confidently answered, “You put your plate under an [dispensing] area, and the food will [dispense] through a pipe.”

I had my concerns. “If I want a slice of cheese or my leftovers, how will they dispense through a narrow pipe?”

We continued discussing his invention and redrafted his plan: After the selection, two steady mechanical arms will pick up the food and place it in the front-most compartment of the fridge. Upon opening it, the selection is the first item the user sees and is ready to be picked up. These changes incorporate moveable and mechanized shelves and arms electrically connected to the exterior screen.

He made a model with clay and a prototype consisting chiefly of cardboard from his house's recycling bin and intern-applied hot glue.

Before becoming a Leadership Intern for National Inventor’s Hall of Fames’ Camp Invention, I underwent training for my role. I learned to guide each student through the creative and scientific process by asking open-ended questions instead of suggesting my own ideas. I was able to apply this during camp and found myself more patient and dying of curiosity to see the children's final products. This experience became a how-to-deal-with-kids-better workshop, and my five younger siblings benefitted from my new attitude toward them when my parents forced me to help them with their school projects.