Chapter Nine - Science Fair (A Rant)

CHAPTER NINE

Science Fair (A Rant)

“YOU DON’T NEED to win the science fair. Just make one person say, ‘Dang, that’s sweet.’”

Let’s talk about the science fair.

I hated it.
Absolutely hated it.

Not because I hated science, science is cool. But because the way they made us do science was just… exhausting. The whole system was structured like a bureaucratic obstacle course. You had to follow the “scientific method” like it was gospel. Hypothesis, materials, variables, controls, constants, bibliography, abstract, visuals, documentation, trifold board, panic attack, and probably glitter.

The science wasn’t the problem.
It was the expectation.

They took creativity and shoved it into a spreadsheet. And that’s what frustrated me most: I wanted to learn, but they made learning feel like punishment. I didn’t need more homework. I needed access. More time. More support. More freedom to mess around and build something cool without worrying about fonts or whether my control group was “controlled enough.”

So here’s what I did: I opted out.

All through high school, I avoided honors and AP science classes just so I wouldn’t have to do science fair. That was the rule: you take the advanced stuff, you do the fair. I wasn’t going to sign up for something that felt like academic torture. So I stuck with the basic classes. Did I miss out on some deeper knowledge? Yeah, probably. Do I regret not taking physics? Kinda. But the process they built around it made me not even want to try.

I lost out on good learning because they buried it under red tape and requirements.
And that sucks.

I didn’t have access to a craft store or a printer that didn’t jam every time I touched it. I wasn’t an Office Depot kid. I didn’t have rides to pick up materials. I didn’t have the time, money, or supplies to make a posterboard that could stand next to the kids with full-blown solar panel demos and parent-engineered data analysis. So I bailed.

But here’s the twist: science fair is still pretty cool.

I wish I could’ve done it differently. I wish I’d had the help or the energy to build something that made people stop and go, “Whoa, what’s that?” Because that’s the real win. Not the medal. Not the ribbons. Not beating Mindy from Drake & Josh with her stress-organized lab coat empire. Just making one person pause and say, “That’s sweet.” That’s enough.

You don’t have to win the science fair.
You just have to want to build something.
Even if it doesn’t light up. Even if it’s messy.
If you want to do it, go do it.

I didn’t. But I get it now.
And maybe, in some way, that means I finally get science too.