Barriers by Samantha

Barriers by Samantha - October 2018 Scholarship Essay

In my mind, thinking outside the box is when you think without barriers. Barriers create limits to our creativity, when you think without limits then you could come up with an idea for nearly anything. To think outside of the box means that you think of ideas with no limitations, of course these ideas will need editing to become lifelike, but that is step number two and we aren't there yet. One first needs to come up with ideas that someone with a millions dollar grant and unlimited access to equipment may think of. From there you can narrow it down a bit. Our situations in life can be limitless and endless, so then should our solutions be. There is no need to overcomplicate our lives with extravagant and never ending issues and obstacles, and to me that is all you are doing when you are trying to think inside of the box.
Take Alan Turing for example, the man to invent the first computer. Everyone believed him to be insane for trying to create a machine that could possibly be so extraordinary. In that time a machine that could function at that level was simply impossible and a ludicrous idea. However, this never stopped Turing. If Turing hadn't thought outside of the box, then we would never have what we do today. When Turing thought without limitations on his ideas he came up with arguably the greatest invention ever.
In summary, think of the box in a quite literal way, an obstacle. While some people may try to go the long way around and avoid it, a smart person would realize that it is simply a box and discard it and toss it to the side. When you are thinking inside the box then you will never reach your full potential. Boxes main purpose is to store things so that you may set them aside, but you should never side your ideas aside, rather, set them in motion.