When was the last time you felt pure joy?
That overwhelming sense of happiness that was so unexpectedly pure because it came out of nowhere — like a gift? That’s how I feel each year when I see the kind of work our kids here in Arizona are doing to answer their own questions and solve their own problems.
What parent doesn’t want that? What employer wouldn’t want to hire a worker who thinks before asking questions? The 6,692 students in Arizona who earned a trip to the Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation by conducting research this year are doing just that — solving their own problems, taking charge — and we should all stand in awe. They bring hope to what has become a very weary world.
Some problems may not seem very big to us as adults, but to a kindergartener like Kathy, it matters whether she can have ice cream for lunch. And to another kindergartener named Dean, it is important that he knows which red wiggler worms dig the fastest.
And so they tested. They measured. They observed. And then they reported. As the ages increase, so too, does the complexity of the problems they tackle.
Addison is a third-grader trying to figure out if the “five second rule” is true or false. (I’d like to know that, too.) Eoin, is a fourth grader who wants to automate her turtle’s world so she never forgets to feed her friend. A total of 36 students researched dog-related problems, and 17 helped their cats to improve the quality of their best-friends’ lives.
They care. And they remind me to care, as well.
By the time I read through the projects and got to Mitchell’s, I knew his “Backpack for the Blind” must have an interesting story behind it. I can’t wait to meet him. And I am looking forward to finding out how three students at Sunnyside High School managed to barcode bees.
Some of the other high school projects made me pause for thought — or a dictionary. I couldn’t even understand much of Kristen’s title: “The Effect of Pyrethriod Insecticides on Transgenic Anopheles Stephensi Mosquitoes.” But if it helps control those pesky bugs, I’m all for it.
The hope comes from all over Arizona.
A high school student from Yuma could be the one to change treatment options for diabetics with her study, “Correlation between Diabetes and Vitamin D Deficiency.” Shawna from Northern Arizona will tell us what she learned when she finished testing water-quality parameters to ensure products on the Navajo Nation are healthy.
And Heaven from Tombstone worked out a solution to stop roll-away strollers that could save lives of our most vulnerable little ones.
How can I not believe that our future is bright when several thousand students are telling me otherwise?
When the students from 47 Arizona cities and towns arrive in Tucson this week for SARSEF, I will be reliving that overwhelming sense of joy I had today when I found out about their research.
From 5-year-olds to high schoolers — here is our future. Here is our next generation that will take what we have given them and make it better. Here is an insight into what our tomorrow will look like, today.
SARSEF is open to the public April 13 at the Tucson Convention Center exhibit halls. From 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. there will be over 50 interactive science booths alongside the 2,000 projects.
Come share the joy with me, this free gift of hope.
