Gaudeamus Igitur

Yesterday, Ian presented his lego-heart at the Lego League fair that came at the end of his fall semester in this class. I walked into the open-spaced room, and it was set up like a science fair, with large cardboard cutout presentations on various tables and earnest young people, mostly boys, explaining their work. Ian ended up covering both physiology and architecture on this one; in fact, his friend's mother, who's a pediatrician, had worked with the group to help them understand the human body.

The director asked him how he liked the class, and he said something to the effect that it was, "Really hard, fun and interesting." Of course, she was pleased by all three categories.

At the end, all three teams of youngsters were given certificates of completion, including Ian's team, "Electric Space," and the conferral involved fist-bumping with "The Invetioneers," three young people, two boys and a girl, probably ranging from to ninth grade, who had led the classes. Each child was given a military-like tag on a necklace chain as well, with a logo from the lego class that they took. Ian was more than happy to squint-and-brandish, smiling and holding up, very prominently, his certificate of completion, for as many pictures as I wanted to take. Unsurprisingly, when I went to put his coat on, he held his tag and chain up around his neck, so that they wouldn't be in the way when I put his coat on; he wanted to go out into the world with his Lego League tag proudly displayed on the outside of his jacket.

(December 15, 2010)