91. The desire to figure things out
[From Seth Godin, Stop Stealing Dreams http://www.squidoo.com/stop-stealing-dreams]
Consider the case of Katherine Bomkamp, a twenty-year-old who will never struggle to find a job, never struggle to make an impact.
She’s not a genius, nor is she gifted with celebrity looks or a prodigy’s piano skills. What she has is the desire to make things, to figure things out and to make a difference.
In high school, she spent a fair amount of time with her dad at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Her father is disabled and he had to visit often for his treatment. While sitting in waiting rooms with wounded soldiers, Katherine learned a lot about phantom limb syndrome. Like many idealistic kids, she thought she’d try to help.
What makes this story noteworthy is that Katherine actually did something. She didn’t give up and she didn’t wait to get picked. Instead, she got to work. Entering her idea in a school science fair, Katherine spent months finding experts who could help make her idea a reality. This is a revolutionary notion—that there are experts just waiting to help. But, as she discovered, there are people waiting to help, waiting for someone interested in causing change to reach out to them. Some are there in person, while others are online. The facts are there, the vendors are there, the case studies are there, just waiting to be found.
It was the science fair and the support of those around her that gave her an opening to do something outside of the path that’s so clearly marked. Katherine did what so many kids are capable of doing, but aren’t expected to do.
A few years later, the Pain Free Socket is about to be patented and may very well become a life-changing device for thousands of amputees. Katherine’s life is already changed, though. She called the bluff of the system and didn’t wait. What she learned in high school is something that precious few of her peers learn: how to figure things out and make them happen.
Tags: stopstealingdreams
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