Great story. I have very fond memories of people who encouraged me when I was a kid. It mattered.
When I was in high school (junior or senior, I forget)... every year there was a "Science Fair." Students would research a topic, do experiments, draw scientific conclusions, etc and present it to a panel of judges.
Of course there were the usual "model volcano" and "solar energy" projects.
And there were the projects that were obviously done by the parents... they looked too polished for a kid.
I decided to do something called the
Winogradsky Column. It fell into the Microbiology category, as it was a way to simulate the bottom of a pond, culturing photosynthetic bacteria.
My presentation wasn't flashy at all. It basically was the glass Winogradsky Columns, which were home-made, the artificial light source... and my notebook full of daily observations of the various columns using different substrates (soil, sand, etc.).
I was one of only three contestants in the Microbiology category. And I came in 3rd place! aka "Last place!" LOL! I got bested by some fancy, polished project boards.
Then my science teacher, Mr. Jim Johnson (he taught all the courses: Physics, Advanced Biology, Chemistry, etc.) suggested I enter my project in the regional competition. I protested,
"I got third place here only because there were just three of us in the category! I was dead last! I'll be even more humiliated at regionals." He insisted I take it to the regional competition, and I reluctantly went.
There were MANY more entrants (dozens) in the Microbiology category at the regional Science Fair. And their projects were impressive! I though,
"I'm toast! They're going to laugh at me."
I got 2nd place!
From the stage, I looked at my science teacher who had a big grin and was nodding his head. He knew. Later, he told me,
"I told you! Your project actually followed the scientific process. It doesn't have to be fancy.... just Science."
<---- Science nerd!
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