One of the
ways I survived the school system was by taking assignments and making the suit
myself. I was always an incredibly odd person, and I tended to find projects
boring and stifling. Most of them were along the lines of “Read these books and
then tell us what they say in your own words”, which is stupid. It’s intended
to prove that the student has learned from the material, but it’s really
reaching how to find creative ways to reword things so you don’t plagiarize.
So,
whenever possible, I found loopholes that would allow me to make projects truly
my own. In tech class, when instructed to make a boring mousetrap car, I made a
mousetrap car that was conveniently a sword once I took the wheels off. In drama,
when told to write a play about a situation that could actually happen, I
time-traveled it back to a medieval setting so I could actually write something
interesting. However, my crowning achievement in this was when I was 16 and I
was instructed to make “visual essay”.
This was in
my Introduction to Sociology, Psychology, and Anthropology class (try saying
that ten times fast). We were to research a nation of our choice and prepare a
visual display that presented the information – the example we were given was a
mobile with snippets of information balanced and hanging from threads. We were
then to make a presentation on our research, and there were bonus marks for
bringing in a snack from the researched culture.
I started
off annoyed at this project, but then an image for a project started to form in
my mind – and I became delighted by it. I was pushing the boundaries a little,
but that’s when I did my best work. Instead of choosing a country I was
particularly interested in, I chose one that fit my vision: Fiji.
Then I started
to construct a paper mache palm tree. A 6 foot tall paper mache palm tree. It
took a very long time, even with the help of my parents. From the tree hung
several paper mashe coconuts. It was completed the night before the
presentation.
The next
day, I stood before my class, with them and the teacher gaping at this
monstrosity beside me (and munching on the Fiji-related coconut-based snack I’d
brought in). I pulled out a knife, and cut open the paper mache coconuts,
revealing inside the points of information and pictures on the required research
topics. It was one of my strangest projects, and will always be one of my
favorites.
The favorite
part of the story, though, came when the marks were being handed out. The
teacher handed me my grading paper, saying that it was a really neat project,
but there was no visual presentation of the information like there was supposed
to be. I just looked confused and said, “The information’s all there in the
coconuts.” She paused for a moment, a look of dawning realization on her face,
then calmly changed the mark to 100%.
And that’s
how it came to be that I created a 6 foot tall paper mache palm tree. It sat
around the house for years after that, until someone finally had the heart to
get rid of it. But, in the intervening years, that tree did have one more
glorious moment in the sun (so to speak). It was the middle of the winter, with
some snow freshly fallen, and I looked at the tree in the house beside me and
said to my friend, “You know what I’ve always wanted to do, ever since I made
that thing...?” And he said, “Let’s do it!” And that’s how one of my favorite
pictures of me came to be.
I call it “Tropical
Canadian Vacation”.
Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.
Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.
If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.
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