This isn't really related to anything, but I am really excited... I wrote a play! It's titled "Paint Washes Us Out". I wrote it because I needed some way to get out feelings after a tough week. It's pretty short, just a one-act, but I'm excited about it!
Note: The play has nothing to do with me or anything I have ever experienced. It is purely fictional. It does involve violence, so please do not continue reading if that is a problem for you.
A star baseball player named Larry Collins is caught trying to pass of the research of his friend Maria Santino, and is kicked out of his university. Realizing he lost baseball, his scholarship, everything, he gets drunk, and goes to her house. When she finally agrees to come outside to meet him, he attacks her. Flash forward eight years, where Larry and Maria end up on the same park bench in Central Park. Both have changed significantly from the events of that night. Both have things they have waited to share and waited to know. But fate has a funny way of intervening when we least expect it.
So, yeah. I am going to work on editing it and fixing up stuff. But I just wanted to share that I wrote it, and I'll keep you updated on wherever it goes from here! :)
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
I Wasn't Told This Before College #5: Creativity Is Not A Dirty Word
Like it or not, we create every day. Scribbles turn into doodles turn into works of art. Babbling turns to words turns into performances. Piano banging turns into scales turns into free-form jazz. We constantly are changing and making and living in a new world, every second of every day. So why doesn't it feel that way?
The beginning of my recent musings on creativity began with my Valentine's Day gift from my boyfriend: a subscription to the computer game Minecraft. If you aren't familiar with Minecraft, let me explain. You are dropped into a world where basically everything can be "mined". You use the "blocks" that you mine to build basically whatever you want. Just don't let the Creepers blow you up.
Not very much after I received that gift, I read a New York Times article about Alan Alda's love for science communication . You know, Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H* ? (Cue theme song. Haha. Now it's in your head). Well, he says he has always loved science, but knew that he wanted to be an actor since he was eight. The article talks about how he learned it from magazines, and how he is now really big in a field that is starting to get some prevalence: science communication.
It all peaked today in English when we watched a TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson entitled "How School Kills Creativity". It's really interesting (and pretty funny). And, of course, it got me thinking.
Sir Ken made a point about how everyone has been told at least once that they can't do what they love because they'll never get a job in it. And as much as I love science (and that is a hell of a lot), there is always going to be part of me that wants to be a screenwriter or an actor or a novelist. Of course, the part of me that fangirls over electric pipettes and gets overly excited about enzymes wins out. But that other part is always there.
So how do we continue to create in a world that treats creativity likes it's a dirty word? What can people who work in STEM fields do to express their artistic side? But even simpler than that, how do we get scientists to take off the goggles and talk to the world?
Mr. Alda says "...Scientists often don’t speak to the rest of us the way they would if we were standing there full of curiosity. They sometimes spray information at us without making that contact that I think is crucial. If a scientist doesn't have someone next to them, drawing them out, they can easily go into lecture mode. There can be a lot of insider’s jargon."
This is incredibly true. Those who work at the bench end up pretty isolated. We immerse ourselves in statistics and test tubes and end up unable to communicate our work with everyone else. Another point Mr. Alda makes is that if scientists can't communicate our work, how can we teach the world it's importance?
How about science communication? It's a fairly new field where people (mainly actors) are developing new ways to, well, communicate science. But it's more than that. It's teaching scientists to step out of the lab and onto stage. Actors like Alan Alda and Stephen McGann from the BBC's Call the Midwife are branching out into a new way of communication. In brief, it's science for all, not just those with PhD's.
Of course the biggest question is how do we change the way scientists present? One way to do this is to increase funding for the arts. In my senior year of high school, I spent 90 minutes a day for three months doing research and writing my senior project thesis. During those same school days I spent 136-156 minutes in a performance based class: jazz band, concert band, and theatre appreciation. When all was said and done, I placed in second in one competition and first in another. Coincidence? I think not.
Performers, especially actors and jazz musicians, are taught how to improvise. Actors are given a few vague lines and a scenario. Jazz musicians are told a few chords. We create something from barely anything. No practice. No knowing anything before hand.
So imagine if you had an entire research project to present. Months of hard work. So many tests ran and papers edited and little holes punched out of filter paper. If working in the lab is all you do, how are you going to explain this to someone who didn't do it? And more importantly, how are you going to convince them that you are worth giving money to? (That's another conversation, but still relevant.)
I am utterly convinced that the reason I did well in those competitions was because I can perform. Sure, I had great research and muttered practice questions to myself occasionally, but everything I answered was on the spot. But it wasn't just being able to answer the questions. I had to know how to present it too. There is a distinct difference between whispering "Hi, I'm, ______. Let me tell you about my research," and smiling, standing up straight and saying "Hi. I'm __________. Let me show you my research and basically explain why it's important and why I am awesome." Okay, not the last bit, but you get the point.
Haha. I got so immersed in performance, I forgot the main topic: creativity. Well, I think that kind of speaks for itself. I mean, when was the last time that scientists were told to sit and draw a picture that wasn't of a cell and its organelles? In fact, when was the last time any of us sat down and drew a picture that was not in the margins of our chemistry notes? Or when was the last time a professor said "for your next assignment, you must make up and interpretive dance to explain the meaning of the short story you read last night." Okay, that one only applies to dance majors.
But really. After the fifth grade, you start switching classes and having homework and you get lost in the preparation for this magical thing called "college". Play time is replaced with calculus. Recess is replaced with English. Arts classes are given the boot to make way for science and engineering. The biggest problem with this idealism is (yet another rhetorical) question:
How will we move forward when no one is creative anymore?
In short:
Yes, science will one day cure cancer, stop (or start) the zombie apocalypse, and invent a flying skateboard. But if you don't know how to present it to an audience, or, God forbid, there is not longer creativity and we run out of new ideas, we are basically screwed. It is all important, and it all goes hand in hand.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Draw! Play! Create! Invent the things Back to the Future says we will have in less than a year! Just please don't splice Mad Cow Disease with Rabies! ( Oh crap.I shouldn't have said that. Please. Really please don't.)
It all peaked today in English when we watched a TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson entitled "How School Kills Creativity". It's really interesting (and pretty funny). And, of course, it got me thinking.
Sir Ken made a point about how everyone has been told at least once that they can't do what they love because they'll never get a job in it. And as much as I love science (and that is a hell of a lot), there is always going to be part of me that wants to be a screenwriter or an actor or a novelist. Of course, the part of me that fangirls over electric pipettes and gets overly excited about enzymes wins out. But that other part is always there.
So how do we continue to create in a world that treats creativity likes it's a dirty word? What can people who work in STEM fields do to express their artistic side? But even simpler than that, how do we get scientists to take off the goggles and talk to the world?
Mr. Alda says "...Scientists often don’t speak to the rest of us the way they would if we were standing there full of curiosity. They sometimes spray information at us without making that contact that I think is crucial. If a scientist doesn't have someone next to them, drawing them out, they can easily go into lecture mode. There can be a lot of insider’s jargon."
This is incredibly true. Those who work at the bench end up pretty isolated. We immerse ourselves in statistics and test tubes and end up unable to communicate our work with everyone else. Another point Mr. Alda makes is that if scientists can't communicate our work, how can we teach the world it's importance?
How about science communication? It's a fairly new field where people (mainly actors) are developing new ways to, well, communicate science. But it's more than that. It's teaching scientists to step out of the lab and onto stage. Actors like Alan Alda and Stephen McGann from the BBC's Call the Midwife are branching out into a new way of communication. In brief, it's science for all, not just those with PhD's.
Of course the biggest question is how do we change the way scientists present? One way to do this is to increase funding for the arts. In my senior year of high school, I spent 90 minutes a day for three months doing research and writing my senior project thesis. During those same school days I spent 136-156 minutes in a performance based class: jazz band, concert band, and theatre appreciation. When all was said and done, I placed in second in one competition and first in another. Coincidence? I think not.
Performers, especially actors and jazz musicians, are taught how to improvise. Actors are given a few vague lines and a scenario. Jazz musicians are told a few chords. We create something from barely anything. No practice. No knowing anything before hand.
So imagine if you had an entire research project to present. Months of hard work. So many tests ran and papers edited and little holes punched out of filter paper. If working in the lab is all you do, how are you going to explain this to someone who didn't do it? And more importantly, how are you going to convince them that you are worth giving money to? (That's another conversation, but still relevant.)
I am utterly convinced that the reason I did well in those competitions was because I can perform. Sure, I had great research and muttered practice questions to myself occasionally, but everything I answered was on the spot. But it wasn't just being able to answer the questions. I had to know how to present it too. There is a distinct difference between whispering "Hi, I'm, ______. Let me tell you about my research," and smiling, standing up straight and saying "Hi. I'm __________. Let me show you my research and basically explain why it's important and why I am awesome." Okay, not the last bit, but you get the point.
Haha. I got so immersed in performance, I forgot the main topic: creativity. Well, I think that kind of speaks for itself. I mean, when was the last time that scientists were told to sit and draw a picture that wasn't of a cell and its organelles? In fact, when was the last time any of us sat down and drew a picture that was not in the margins of our chemistry notes? Or when was the last time a professor said "for your next assignment, you must make up and interpretive dance to explain the meaning of the short story you read last night." Okay, that one only applies to dance majors.
But really. After the fifth grade, you start switching classes and having homework and you get lost in the preparation for this magical thing called "college". Play time is replaced with calculus. Recess is replaced with English. Arts classes are given the boot to make way for science and engineering. The biggest problem with this idealism is (yet another rhetorical) question:
How will we move forward when no one is creative anymore?
I'll let you ponder that for a while.
In short:
SCIENTISTS: TAKE PERFORMANCE AND ARTS CLASSES GOSH DARN IT.
ADMINISTRATORS: STOP CUTTING ARTS PROGRAMS FOR THE SAKE OF SCIENCE GOSH DARN IT.
EVERYONE: STOP TREATING THE ARTS AND CREATING THINGS LIKE IT'S TABOO GOSH DARN IT.
Yes, science will one day cure cancer, stop (or start) the zombie apocalypse, and invent a flying skateboard. But if you don't know how to present it to an audience, or, God forbid, there is not longer creativity and we run out of new ideas, we are basically screwed. It is all important, and it all goes hand in hand.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Draw! Play! Create! Invent the things Back to the Future says we will have in less than a year! Just please don't splice Mad Cow Disease with Rabies! ( Oh crap.I shouldn't have said that. Please. Really please don't.)
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