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(8/2002) - Just what is it about Odyssey of the Mind? What draws thousands of new participants to the program each year? Why do those of us who participate year after year keep coming back? Maybe it’s the challenge of each year’s new problems. Maybe it’s the excitement of a tournament and the pride on the kids’ faces when they present their solutions. Maybe it’s just the fact that there is no experience like Odyssey of the Mind in the world.

I first became acquainted with Odyssey of the Mind nineteen years ago as a student in a 6th grade gifted class. Through elementary, junior high, high school, and college, Odyssey of the Mind sustained me. I was always a good student, but easily bored in school. The program gave me the creative outlet I needed to grow intellectually and emotionally. I learned everything from how to run a jigsaw to how to sing the blues. Along the way, I studied physics, biology, history, engineering, art, anthropology, music, acting, set design, sewing, wiring, mythology, literature, carpentry, psychology, and much more.

At the time I didn't think about it as studying; I was simply excited about learning. Now that I am a teacher, I can better appreciate that aspect of the program -- Odyssey of the Mind gets students excited about learning by encouraging them to ask questions. Teams might ask themselves: What skills do we need to learn in order to build this vehicle? What have poets written about this subject before? How many ways are there to move these ping-pong balls without touching them? When students are challenged to solve problems creatively, they become self-starters. They actively seek the knowledge they need to see their ideas, no matter how seemingly far-fetched, become reality.

Because Odyssey of the Mind teams replace the attitude of "it can't be done" with "we'll find a way," my years as a team member led me to believe that there was no problem for which I couldn't find a creative solution, given time to generate ideas and a minimum of materials. This mentality has consistently served me well. As an example, several years ago I was making a long drive in a rainstorm. As luck would have it, one of my windshield wipers broke just as it was growing dark. I couldn't see a thing, so I pulled off on the side of the road to decide what to do. I ended up rigging the wipers using a nail clipper and a piece of string that I had in the car. It wasn't the most elegant solution to the problem, but it worked well enough to get me on my way again. My mother later commented that if I hadn't been in Odyssey of the Mind, I probably would have just sat there and cried. She was right.

One of the most important lessons that Odyssey of the Mind taught me was how to work with other people, because above all else, Odyssey teams solve problems together. Through the program I learned how to express my own ideas in a group, compromise, and build upon the strengths of my teammates. The fact that my teams were required to solve problems completely on our own, with no outside assistance, pulled us together as a group and empowered us. Whether we won at competitions or not, we always succeeded because we believed in ourselves.

As an Odyssey coach, I have been able to see the maturity that teamwork brings to students. One elementary school team that I worked with grew from yelling and blaming each other when a team-built device didn’t work in practice to working together quickly and successfully to repair a prop that suddenly fell apart during their performance at a tournament. I could not have been more proud of them if everything had worked as planned.

A close-knit team environment allows students to feel comfortable with trying, perhaps failing, and learning from the experience. In fact, learning through failure is often a key component of the Odyssey of the Mind experience, as teams are encouraged to refine their solutions throughout the year. One of my high school teammates designed an award-winning aircraft made with kitchen tongs and springs from an old transistor radio. The original design was built around a whisk, but repeated failures led him to rethink and rebuild until he developed something much more effective than the initial creation. By the time we reached the state competition, the aircraft worked perfectly every time.

As a tournament judge, I've worked with countless children who have benefited from the creative problem solving process. One of the most memorable teams I've judged in recent years built a balsa wood structure that supported 35 pounds of weight in competition. Even though other teams at the tournament built structures that held over 1100 pounds, this team was exuberant because the last structure they had built supported just 10 pounds. They described the changes they had made in their design based on what they'd learned, and were clearly pleased with the results. In their eyes they had succeeded, and they left excited about what they might be able to do the next year.

For me, teams with this attitude represent the best of what Odyssey of the Mind can teach, and are one of the reasons I volunteer year after year. Another is that working as a coach, judge, and administrator for the Odyssey of the Mind program has given me the chance to give back to the program that gave me so much. I know that if there ever comes a time when I’m not so directly involved with Odyssey of the Mind (which is unimaginable), it will still be a central part of who I am and what I do.