No Boundaries - A Real Winner!

By Ronnel Boettcher, Grade 12 INSPIRE Member 


Hi INSPIRE students! I would like to tell you guys about my experience with the No Boundaries Contest, which you definitely should consider entering. I participated in the No Boundaries contest last year and it was a lot of fun! I asked my friend if he wanted to form a team, so we did. Because our school and class didn't organize or oversee our project, we were basically on our own for the project.

At first, we thought of making a diorama or some sort of model. However, we ultimately decided to make a book about careers in astronomy. I'm good with Photoshop so I had no trouble putting together the book layout, and my friend mostly concentrated on the articles and things. Also, we interviewed two astronomers through their emails. The first astronomer works at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. The second one works for NASA for the Kepler mission. That was a really cool experience. If you have connections with scientists or engineers, interviewing them will really help with your project.

 I'll admit we did procrastinate a bit and on the day before the project deadline we stayed home from school to work on it, and got it sent in just in time. Anyways, we ended up winning third place out of (from what my teacher told us) over 12,000 entries. Basically, my advice to you guys is to be creative, don't procrastinate and have fun! We also won $500 to split between my teammate and I, and our school also got $500. Although it would have been cool to win first place, if you take a look at the first place entry on the website, it is really, really good, and they definitely deserved it because they put in a lot of work. So basically, just try to make your entry the best it can be. If you are including essays, make sure there are no errors (ours actually had a couple looking back). Whichever project you decide to make, try to take advantage of your own unique skills and abilities. Make sure it is designed well, and again, have fun with it!

Here is a link to the 2010 No Boundaries contest page:
http://www.usatodayeducate.com/nasa/index.php/contest-winners/
 
(You can be part of this year's No Boundaries competition and earn points for INSPIRE.  FInd out details here.
- INSPIRE Staff)