Let me tell you about the time I flunked the science fair.
This is counterintuitive, I know, as my understanding is that most science fairs are voluntary affairs and are judged for prizes, not scored for grades in science class. But no, my 8th grade general science class made entry into the science fair mandatory, and we were all to be graded. Five years later, when my perpetually overachieving younger brother came through the same class, he just did the same experiment that he submitted for his 6th grade science fair where he measured the amount of mold that grew on different loaves of bread made with different sweeteners. I seem to recall he went all the way to state finals with that or something, but I don’t quite remember. I was an extremely inattentive older brother, apparently.
Me, on the other hand, I had never done a science fair project before, and I was determined to do something truly amazing. After all, I was reasonably certain that I was going to grow up to be a scientist. You know those aptitude tests they administer in high school to give students an idea of what kind of career they want to shoot for when they get into college? I purposely answered everything that would skew the answers towards scientist. My father is a scientist. My grandfather was an engineer. My grandfather’s twin brother was a test pilot, which I guess is kinda science-y if you want to really stretch it. My great-grandfather, I’m sure he did some technical shit or something. But my dad is a chemist, that’s the important take away here. Inattentive, remember?
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