Then he excitedly told me about climbing the rock wall three times (in his suit - minus the coat and tie) bare footed and getting all the way to the top where he could ring the bell. This was quite amazing to me since when we were in Salt Lake, Fotu was scared to death of being on top of the Conference Center and was hugging the wall! I guess the difference was that when he was climbing the rock wall he was inches away from what he felt was security!
Background: Fotu won our elementary fair and then did not earn any award for our district fair, but was allowed to go on to the next level. He was very distraught and decided that he just didn't want to do it! I explained to him that science fairs are very subjective and that the experience alone would be fun and interesting. Since he's done it before and enjoyed it, he finally decided to fill out the paperwork, write and edit his proposal and turn everything in.
So, when he made the comment stated above, I was very pleased that Fotu had enjoyed the day and grown from the experience.
Cosmo presented the awards and Fotu was excited - yet again - for the chance to hang out with Cosmo! Fotu was tense during the 4th Place Awards. (All the different categories made for about 10 awards in each place.) Then during the 3rd Place Awards he began to relax. And by the 1st Place Awards he whispered, "It's OK, Mom!" While he stretched out and came to realize that his Science Fair experience was over.
Oh, BUT WAIT! There were still 5 HUGE trophies coming out from under the table covering. 10 National Junior Scientists were named. Fotu was called for Life Science. He quickly jerked upright and with jaw dropping and buggy eyed he walked up to the stage.
Then it was announced that there would be 5 Grand Champions awarded. Fotu was named the Grand Champion of Life Sciences. He earned a cash award of $50.00 - that he is very proud of!
The botany professor talked with me afterward and said that there is potentially great interest in medical research based on Fotu's research and had us talk with his secretary for future communication purposes.
Fotu wanted to know why people were not doing more to prevent Plagiocephaly (Flat Head Syndrome) instead of working to fix it after had already happened. His research noted that there has been a 500% increase in the problem since the launch of the "Back to Bed" campaign to prevent SIDS. Although this has decreased the number of infant deaths due to SID related causes, it has created a much greater problem with Plagiocephaly, especially with premature infants whose skull is still maturing and much softer, and even more with those who have a health condition that does not allow them to be held.
Fotu first learned about this when Seneti was born premature. He read a pamphlet and said, "That's dumb! Why don't they just put the babies on a different surface?" So, he went about figuring out some different surfaces. He of course did not have permission to use live infants, so that was a limiting factor in his experimentation process, but he still used a great deal of creativity to figure out a way to prove his point.
Way to go Fotu! I hope you know that my favorite part of the day was the talk we had that evening about how you had said your prayer the night before and told Heavenly Father that you wanted to do your best, but that you would be fine with the outcome, no matter what it was! You have matured a great deal through this process, and I am happy to see you building your life around good choices and learning that you can't always have the outcome you want (like what happened at the district level), but that you didn't give up and kept trying! It's just especially nice when the outcome was such a positive experience! Thanks for being a good friend to the younger kids who went and helping them feel comfortable and get what they needed throughout the day. Your example to them is also a great part of what you did! Keep up the great work!
1 comment:
Way to go Fotu!!
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