I’m sure by now through your
Facebook or twitter scrolling you have come across the hashtag
#IStandWithAhmed. Even those of you who are not politically motivated in the
least have probably stumbled across the story of the 14-year old boy who built
a clock and was told to put it away because it could be perceived as a bomb.
You have surely heard that the boy
was then arrested later on that day because the sound of his success rung in
class when the clock worked and the alarm went off. Though I would be missing a
perfect opportunity for a political blog post, I will refrain because to me
there is no argument. I attended a public high school, I endured bomb threats,
this didn’t even begin to fit the criteria of one- this was an act of racism. However,
as an engineering student who has been in love with the sciences all her life,
there is a more outrageous crime at hand- the stifling of a child’s passion.
Upon enrollment in my current engineering program, my
instructors tried to prep me for the rigor that I was going to endure in the
next four years of my life. Many would start the race but few would finish. I
had a class my first semester of my freshmen year specifically meant to
mentally and emotionally prep the engineer for what they were about to invest
their time in, making sure that we knew exactly what we were getting into.
Through this course I learned that, whether you know it or not, successful
engineers are created at birth. Those annoying children who always are asking
“why?” or “how does that work?” usually are also the ones to figure it out
themselves. The kid that takes apart the VCR and puts it together again. The
one that likes to play with legos, likes to stay outside, likes to observe the
natural world around them- that is a kid that has the love of science and logic
bred into them. That is the kid that will push our world forward with their use
of innovative engineering.
When I heard this story I was sad because Ahmed was
obviously this kid. In college,
inventions such as his are common. I am friends with clock builders, program
writers, the kinds of people who make their calculators say their names on a
Saturday night instead of attending a frat party. Last year, when the
#BeAnEngineer hashtag (A hashtag I proudly sport in my twitter bio) exploded, I
was sure that all people would be more aware that there are people like Ahmed
out there-that they have existed since birth. However, this story proved me
wrong. While a police officer was arresting Ahmed (again, a 14 year old boy) he
asked him “why would you build a clock?”. I’m sure Ahmed didn’t even have a
response because he and I are the same. Because it’s fun, because he found it
interesting, because it’s second nature to him. It’s like playing with legos,
working on a car, going to the gym. He even mentioned that he has numerous
other inventions of his lying around at home. Making things is his hobby, his
passion. Why wouldn’t he make a clock? I have an uncle who does these things
all the time and I don’t think anyone in my family has ever asked him why he does it. He enjoys it, its how
his brain works, he just does it. While I’m not like Ahmed in that I’ve never
built a clock, my brain works just like his. I like fixing stuff. Whenever
something doesn’t seem to work as it should, I find it really fun to play with
it until it does work correctly. See what makes it work, compare it to other
things, understand all of its functions instead of just using it. I like
cooking things, building things, creating things. Understanding all of these
things in their completeness. There is a high we get from getting things.
Getting why a math problem is done
the way it is, not just knowing how to do it. Getting why roads and bridges and neighborhoods are laid out the way they
are. I can completely identify with Ahmed. I know why he wanted to build a
clock.
However I think the saddest part of this story is on the
teacher’s part. I became an engineer because a teacher in high school looked me
in the eyes and told me that he believed in me. I could do this. It would be
tough, but I would be one of the ones that finished the race. I can’t count the
number of days that we didn’t have class, just talked about college. Those are
the hours that built me. Two years later and I still reflect on those
conversations as I study late at night instead of hanging out with friends. Here,
however, we have an example of a teacher stifling Ahmed’s dreams. Instead of a
“how cool!” he got a “put that away!”. I mean, isn’t anyone else amazed that a
FOURTEEN year old made a clock? Doesn’t that just blow you away? Ahmed made
something and found a teacher he thought he could identify with and that
teacher proved him wrong that day. I can’t imagine what disappointment he felt.
His creative mind was put second to racist paranoia and I truly feel for him
from the bottom of my heart. Before I wanted to become an engineer, I was
dead-set on becoming a teacher. To this day I plan on getting my masters in
Engineering simply so I can teach if I ever decide that’s what I want to do.
Next semester I will be teaching a Calculus class. Lighting the same fire in
others that was lit in me is very high on my priority list and God gave me a
teacher’s heart. I can’t imagine a student choosing me to share their accomplishments
and passions with and me just completely shutting them down. No person who can
look a boy in the eyes and tell them that their creation must be hidden should
be a teacher. Period.
Ahmed, if you for some reason ever stumble across this
blog post one day, I hope you know I believe in you. I too am part of a
minority in the engineering field and I too wake up every day having to prove
myself to others who feel like they are more worthy of this education. I work
in the office of the Dean of Electrical Engineering and just the other day he
was expressing that he wants his students to tinker with things, go home and
build things. He said that that is
what makes a great engineer. You fit the bill. I hope you go to MIT, get a
great education, and keep on pushing limits because that is how all great
things have came to be. #BeAnEngineer.
