Thinking Outside the Box: A Student's Perspective by Lyndsey

Thinking Outside the Box: A Student's Perspective by Lyndsey - October 2018 Scholarship Essay

I believe that “thinking outside the box” means to have a different creative thought process. This thought process can introduce a new out of the ordinary perspective to discussions or analysis in classes or life.
Socratic discussions in English class tends to stimulate dissimilar thought processes of students. While one student may find that a symbol or scene in a book means one thing, another can think exactly the opposite. For example, in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, there is a scene where a black man is mixing paint in a paint factory. As he is mixing it, he discovers a slight tinge of grey coloring in a batch. When his boss, who is white, checks to make sure the paint has been mixed properly, he says that it looks perfect and does not notice the slight tinge of grey.
When I initially analyzed this scene, my perspective was that the white man overlooked or did not catch the black man’s mistake and did not catch it. I thought the white man simply did not notice because the coloring was so similar to the white shade it was meant to be. However, when discussing the scene with another classmate, she related it to the society at the time the book was written. Her perspective was that the paint represented society: the black man represented black influence on society at the time (since he is mixing the droplets into the paint, causing it to take shape/color), and that the white man did not notice because he was oblivious to change that was happening at the time. So, even though the black man did mix the paint properly and caused the paint to change color, his “influence” did so little that it did not make a noticeable difference to society as a whole. The whites influenced society most at this time: therefore, when the white man didn’t notice the slight tinge (change), it meant to the student that whites had such a major influence that the little things the blacks did were not significant.
I believe that thinking outside the box is based upon each person’s perspective, education, and experience, and therefore every individual has his or her own experiences which impact their immediate thought about a subject. To me, “thinking outside the box” means having a personal view that is most likely different from the majority of others and having a willingness to bring new ideas to the table.