I'm Not Going to be a Scientist - so Why Should I Care?

I hear this all the time from students - mostly high school students.  They have already narrowed in on a future path for themselves which isn't on the STEM track and therefore feel their science fair project has nothing to do with them.  These students are missing the big picture and a major opportunity. In the past I've spoken out about how there is a direct correlation between science fair projects and skills necessary for other school projects, especially in college; for today I'm going to concentration on life after school, and how critical these science fair skills are. Yes, I went to college with the expectation that I would be making my way in the world in a STEM related field - but as these things often go, life dealt me a curve-ball and most of my post-grad career has been spent on non-technical activities.  I still can credit my science fair years as a major contributing factor to my ability to successfully complete these activities and achieve at my job. 

proj·ect

noun \ˈprä-ˌjekt, -jikt also ˈprō-\

: a planned piece of work that has a specific purpose (such as to find information or to make something new) and that usually requires a lot of time -Merriam-Webster.com.

Projects don't stop with school.  By its definition, a project is simply a set of tasks towards a specific purpose.  No matter what your chosen field, your life's work will be broken into projects.  If you are an author a single book is a project; for an artist, a single piece or a whole collection could be a project; and for an athlete a single match or an entire season could be a project.  It depends on your perspective. Ok, so you now agree there are projects after school, that still doesn't mean you're going to use these skills.  Wrong.  There are a thousand examples I could spout off, but for today I'm going to concentrate on three major areas: time management, critical thinking, and communication.

"Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity" - Wikipedia

Your science fair project has a specific deadline (or in some cases, a series of deadlines for individual tasks).  Just because you got the flu or got distracted by the new Madden for a week doesn't mean your school, region, or state will change the fair date for you.  This will especially be true in your career.  Using the same career examples, an author will have a publication deadline, an artist may have a gallery exhibition or a commissioned painting, and an athlete has a game day they need to be in-shape by.  Yes, there will be times when due dates are flexible, but learning time management and the ability to pace yourself to meet a deadline is crucial for success.  Even if you win the lottery and don't have to work ever again, your time management will come in handy when you need to pay your taxes by a certain date each year.

"Critical thinking is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, partially true, or false. " - Wikipedia

Critical thinking is another important skill that will be sharpened by participation in science fairs; I'm not talking about word problems and essay questions.  As you are working through your project and you hit a stumbling block (you will, everyone does) how you learn to work through that problem to complete your project will prepare you for life.  Things don't always go perfectly, and knowing how to deal with problems when they arise is a huge advantage in you career.  Do you want to be the employee who stops everything and goes to their boss crying every time something comes up? Or do you want to be the pro-active go-getter that brings their boss the issue with three suggestions of how to proceed?  If you hope to work your way up any corporate ladder, critical thinking and problem solving will be a key way to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack.  Your science fair project is is teaching you to be an independent thinker who can solve her own problems.  Please don't think you need to work through the issues completely on your own - part of critical thinking is knowing when and where to reach out for assistance.

"Communication noun: the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else" - Marriam Webster

The last skill I'm going to touch on is communication.  How many times a day do you talk to someone? Email, in person, even social media or texting.  By having to practice communicating complex ideas to individuals who are unfamiliar with them, you are becoming a better communicator.  You can be the most brilliant person in the world, but if you cannot convey your brilliant thoughts and life changing ideas so that others can understand them, it is as if the thoughts never were.  If you are in an artistic career and need to promote yourself and describe your work, you need to have polished communication skills.  Before you can prove yourself to your boss, that practice speaking to strangers about yourself and your accomplishments will help you rock the job interview to land your non-science dream job in the first place.

These are just a few ways that your science fair project is applicable to skills you will use on a daily basis in your future.  What other examples can you think of?  I hope now you are re-energized to get back to your project and push through these last few pieces to take full advantage of this opportunity before you.

Until Next Time!

The Science Fair Girl