Brilliant

Sir Ken Robinson made many good points about how children’s creative talents are suppressed by our education systems. He wisely said that schools “mine our minds for a specific commodity.” Unfortunately, creativity is not a hot commodity as far as our schools are concerned. The story about Gillian Lynne and her teachers assuming that her inability to sit still was an illness and not a gift is proof. I also love his comment about how people grow out of creativity, rather than into it. My previous story about my sister Justice and her creative way of thinking made that comment hit home with me. I agree with Sir Robinson that it is sad that kids don’t get the chance to develop the special creative side to them; they are told that those talents will not get them work when they are adults, so they should focus instead on things that will get them a job.


I was fortunate enough to go to a middle school called The School of Technology and Arts, or SOTA. We learned science through art and math through music. We were given the chance to indulge our creative sides. I learned to love the right side of my brain, and use it not only to embrace the artist in me, but to use it to learn. I thrived during my short three years there, and was sad to have to move on to a non-charter high school. But the emphasis my teachers there put on being creative stuck with me, and I am happier for it. I use that side of me everyday: when I get dressed, when I write, when I doodle; as such, I feel like I am less bogged down by everyday hassles that can stress out some of my peers. In sum, Sir Ken Robinson, you are brilliant. (Brilliant and hilarious; I laughed out loud during the whole video.)