When your intelligence is at the level where it is ‘smart enough’, there will be more deciding factors in what makes you stand out even more. “She keeps trying and trying, one approach after another.” (239) In this quote, Renee was being described. Renee is someone who was videotaped by Alan Schoenfeld. She tried hard for 20 minutes using software on the computer to solve an algebra problem. I believe I am like Renee; I am determined and can figure things out for myself. The fact that I can figure things out for myself leads me to believe I’m smart. Using this general level of smartness I set for myself, the thing that makes me stand out even more is my creativity. A ‘divergence test’ is a test that the grader looks for are “the number and uniqueness of your responses.” (86-87) The divergence test, in a way, measures your creativity. On page 86, Mr. Gladwell had listed two objects; a brick and a blanket. He said to make a list of how many uses you could think of for it. I did this for about 30 minutes. Just for my uses of brick there had been over 17 uses. One of my favorite uses that I had come up with for the brick was to be painting it yellow and pretending you’re in the Wizard of Oz. For use list of for the blanket there had been sixteen. My favorite from that list was probably that you can write on it in permanent marker and use it as a sign at a football game. It would be a bad sign, but still work. I pondered at this moment, and realized my creativity level is quite high. Now thinking about it, I can name many times my creativity had impacted my life. My first example is when I was in 4th grade and I entered two pictures for the Official Neopets Magazine. In 5th grade I happened to flip to the front page of the art gallery of issue number 17, and saw that the two were on the bottom of the page. I had been published, excitement overflowed my brain! I believed one of the pictures I had made had been the reason of its publication. I had made it out of different colored construction paper, a permanent black marker, and glue. This gave the picture a 3D kind of look. My entry to the magazine was unique, and I had not ever seen it done before. Another example of my creativity is when in 8th grade I had painted my room with the idea in my mind I wanted to make a giant collage. I painted one wall a dark blue (I wanted to paint it black, but my mom wouldn’t let me do it) and the others a purple color. Throughout the year I had obtained many posters and a few wall scrolls (a Japanese poster) that I put up on my walls. I printed a ton of black and white anime screenshots, manga pages, and art that I liked. I put a colored background on each one and put it up surrounding the bigger posters. This year, I added Christmas lights surrounding my room as kind of a light boarder. My room is the most unique room I’ve ever been in. My creativity has never seemed to not impress me, and therefore I believe I stand out a little bit more.
“Plane crashes are much more likely to be the result of an accumulation of minor difficulties and seemingly trivial malfunctions.” (183) All of my life, I have rode in many planes. I’ve always been afraid of planes; I’ve been paranoid. One day in February when I was 13, I was coming back to New York from a family vacation to Florida. The flight had been sort of shaky, and the whole time I was freaking out. My anxiety was at a high, when we were getting close to New York and the fight attendants seemed to worry. I continued to freak out and trying not to cry. It was really bumpy, and a ton of people vomited. I thought we were going down for sure. My mom, dad and brother all were scared to. But thankfully, the plane did not end up crashing. Now that I think about it, I wonder if there was an accumulation of minor difficulties to cause the plane turbulence, and trouble. At the time I had no idea what was happening. “They take initiative. They pull their share of the load. They don’t wait for someone to direct them.” (220) I wonder if certain communication or the first officer stepped up and helped the plane land safely at Albany Airport. I’m very thankful for the successful steps that paved those pilots education to be able to fly a plane safe, and their great communication skills.
“[T]hey also got a big head start, an opportunity that they neither deserved nor earned. And that opportunity played a critical role in their success.” (30) Mr. Gladwell is referring to hockey players in this quote, but it can also be applied to academics. I was born December 29th 1995, and the cutoff for school in New York is November 31st. My mom decided to wait a year before I was placed into kindergarten, therefore putting me at the older end of my peers. I feel like this gave me an unfair advantage towards the other kids. In the year I didn’t go to school, I’d work on drawing and learning my shapes. I would be more mature, and yet learning the same material as them. Right now I believe I am successful. I have never had a final average under 90 yet, allowing me to keep my honors pass. My art is more matured; I’ve had more time to work on it. That being said, what other 10 year olds were picked to be in a magazine art gallery for their skills? I often wonder if my mom had not waited to place me into kindergarten -would I still be this successful?
An outlier is defined as “something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body.” (1) I believe I am an outlier, because of my creativity. I am not only smart, but really creative as well. If you look in my room you’ll notice the giant collage and the framed Neopets Magazine, opened on the page my art is in. I almost had crashed on a plane, but thankfully, I am still alive because of the pilot’s communication. Waiting to go to kindergarten placed me ahead of my peers in the subjects I most enjoyed as a 5 year old. These few steps in my life truly helped me succeed and stand out!
Works Cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: the Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and, 2008. Print.
"Kindergarten Cut-Off Dates." Web. 21 Dec. 2011. <http://users.stargate.net/~cokids/kindergarten_cut-off_dates.htm>.
