Science out of reach
Chapter 1: Science out of reach
When I was growing up in Bethlehem, there was a wonderful science program in my taking place in a near city for kids my age. The program seemed more fictional than real because of how great it sounded, they had scientific instruments, computers, and things my 10-year-old brain did not understand but wanted to play with. It was all about science, and I wanted to be there.
"Science" was a magical word for me at that age -and still is. It meant the secret to the universe, purple galaxies in an infinite cosmos, the smell of chemicals being mixed together, the sound of chalk on a blackboard, and the sight of mad scientists that have weird hair, glasses, and a lab coat (The way I thought of science -and of life generally- was influenced heavily by beautiful cartoons that I still admire).
Everything about that program in my city was great, it was Science, and it was for me, except for one issue: I could not attend it.
Knowing that was crushing as a kid, I knew that everything beautiful lies behind the walls of the building that the program took place in and in the financial and geographical barriers that stop me from attending.
As far as I can tell, I was, from a very young age, conscious that I will only have one childhood -the childhood that I am living now- and that the experiences that I am living are the only experiences that I will be having in my only childhood that I am going to live. I knew that I only have a single childhood, and my dream of "doing science" in that program will not be a part of it.
Chapter 2: Exploring space from my room
I was 11, it was nighttime, the only sound was from the pouring rain hitting my window, and the only light in the room was coming from a small electric heater and an old big computer monitor. The room was empty except for my desk, computer, and heater.
I was there every night, surfing the web, reading and learning about everything I could find. Surprisingly -for me,- the website that I attended most often was a weather website based in Palestine called PalWeather (www.PalWeather.ps). Why was I spending all these rainy nights on a weather website as an 11-year-old?
PalWeather was mainly a weather website, but underneath the weather section, there were multiple sections about different topics in science, nature, and tech, and that is what drew me there.
I remember being in that dark room, pulling the heater between my feet, and reading articles about the discovery of interesting black holes, the recent inventions in tech, and the discovery of exciting exoplanets. I was content and cozy while reading the articles in my room, everything was right, and life was simple.
I recently went back to PalWeather to see what kind of posts they were posting and I found this: "Google reveals some new apps for their new smart glasses..."
Google Glass, which are smart Glasses developed by Google, were one of the most exciting things I followed in my childhood, but I wasn't sure how did I get to know about them. Looking back at this post, it is very possible that it is because of this or some other post on PalWeather.
Here is a photo of me giving a presentation about Google Glass during an open day at school for parents and students:
I remember the teacher asking me with surprise after my presentation "How do you know about this?!" Apparently, it was rare that someone my age knew about cutting-edge things like that on their own. I shrugged and continued eating my pretzel sticks not knowing how to respond to her question.
Chapter 3: Old school love
Around that time, my father started bringing back a magazine from work for me to read. That magazine was the most exciting physical thing I owned in my life, I remember being surprised about how good it was, my smile when reading it, and the admiration of its content. Naturally, it was called "the technologist". It was one of the few things I ever anticipated in my life, and the day my father came back from work with the new edition with him was a very exciting and beautiful day.
I read the story that the movie The Pursuit of Happiness (2006) is based on in that magazine a long time before watching the movie, and once I watched the movie and made the connection, I smiled and felt grateful for that magazine being a part of my childhood.
Thank you, father, it was a great gift.
Chapter 4: A day to remember
One of the best days of my life, perhaps, is the day I was able to attend one of the sessions from that science program through a collaboration between my school and the program (I think).
I remember two things from that day:
First, there was a black inflatable dome that is hollow from the inside, kids would go inside the dome which had a projector that projected the night sky into the dome's interior, giving us the experience of being in space, between the stars, the comments, and galaxies. Previously, I knew that the program had this dome and was so sad that I wasn't going to experience it as a kid until that day changed that.
Second, we were outdoors, each holding a test tube that we used for mixing chemicals. After adding the chemicals inside my tube, a purple crystal slowly started forming until it filled it entirely. It was a moment of pure magic for me. Out of seemingly nothing, I witnessed the birth of a crystal, almost like a snowflake, that had a color that reminded me of space, magic, the unknown, and how exciting science is.
That crystal was very influential in my life. I still remember it and how it shocked me when I first saw it growing. I think about it whenever I am helping a kid with math or teaching him something about the universe, I remember how it excited me about learning and science and makes me excited about exciting the kids I am interacting with too.
I think about the butterfly effect that the crystal started within me, how I changed because of it, and how my change would lead to change in other kids as well.
I also think about the people who organized the program, the events, and the experiments. They did not know me, they still don't know me, don't know that I am here thinking and writing about them, thanking them, and wondering whether they understand the effects of what they have done on me.
