Sarah: My Eight-Year Old Perspective Changer

The semester ended. Finals are all finalized. Projects are punctuated. As great as it was, in some ways it kind of leaves me wondering what it was all for. What does it really matter if I now know how to calculate a Reynold’s Number or if you can _______________ (fill in something from your major or job) or what my grade was in ___________? Now, after it’s over, so what? 

It took an eight year old to bring it all into perspective again for me. I got to be part of a small program this semester where college students are partnered up to be mentors for children in the community. Once a week my partner and I got to meet up with Sarah* and take her to do something fun. I signed up thinking this would be a good way to give back to the community. But, despite the cliche-ness of the phrase, I got back so much more than I ever gave. 

Sarah, and the weekly activities we did with her were oases of perspective for me. Just forcing myself to remember what kinds of things are fun for an eight-year-old when my partner and I brainstormed what to do each week got me far outside the mindset of my research lab. 

We did things I never would have done by myself - played soccer in a park and then tag on the jungle gym, got ice-cream cones that were way too big (ok, I might have done that by myself...), visited a dinosaur museum, and watched “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!”. These outings refreshed my mind and soul and reminded me of the simple joys of childhood. 

But more than just diverting my mind away from my school-work for a while, Sarah reminded me why what I, or any other person does at their job is really important. From a scientific perspective, here’s the abstract of what she taught me:

• Galvanized steel pipe and weather resistant plastics are important because they make playgrounds and soccer goals for girls like Sarah. 
• Refrigeration cycles and copper forming techniques are meaningful because little girls like Sarah can eat a lot of soft-serve ice-cream. 
• Discovering a new species of sauropod is vital so Sarah can be fascinated when she sees it. 
• Lasers and optics have significance because Sarah needs to laugh when she watches Linus, Pigpen, and Snoopy on DVD. 

All the different things we study and work daily at, even when we enjoy them, have to be linked to a greater purpose if they are to really have any true meaning after we’re done doing them. That greater purpose almost always has to do with the people we love and the relationships we have with them. 

So thanks, Sarah. I don’t know if it would make any sense to you if I tried to explain what getting to know you this semester did for me. But in the end, I think it was me that needed to understand things a little better anyway. 

*name changed