Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

invites you to join us this spring as we make each day our best in 2020. Come learn, grow and make an impact with us by trying something new every day! Whether you are a returning, new or prospective student, 优蜜视频 Academy offers something for everyone while creating a community that supports one another and our organization.聽

Expand your interests by taking a that challenges you or pushes you out of your comfort zone. Are you a numbers wiz? Why not try your hand at modeling math in Hacker Calculus? Is art more up your alley? Find inspiration in creating a mammalian color wheel in our class, Cenozoic Life! Herpetologist at heart? Unexpected twists and turns await you in Secrets of the Snake! Whichever class you choose will challenge you and help you learn in-depth about a new subject.

Spark your curiosity, then chase your imagination! Academy courses are custom-built to put students in the driver鈥檚 seat of their education. With 36 courses and 17 new classes including The Creative Process: Research and Development and Harry Potter: Behind the Words, there are plenty of opportunities for students to create and visualize beyond their wildest dreams.

Go in-depth to find collaborative solutions. American psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, 鈥淚f your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail.鈥� Courses such as The Science of Plastics, The Penguin Predicament and Forensic Science offer ample opportunities for students to learn critical thinking skills and creatively solve problems. What questions will you ask that can lead to better tools for discovery?

Celebrate community and give thanks. Inside and outside, new opportunities for learning and growth are made possible by the generosity of our community. We especially want to thank 优蜜视频 families for donating to the Learning Center Play Safe Garden! The New Year brought new foliage and even berries to our front yard. We also thank the Ahmanson Family and their generosity, which helped fund our wet lab space inside 优蜜视频’s Learning Center.

We hope you join us for Spring Academy and find knowledge, creativity and community in one of our many classes!

鈥淧erfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people.聽 It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.鈥澛� -Anne Lamott

Perfectionism has the tendency to lurk in our minds; it is a monster who strives to slash at our dreams and ambitions.聽 Giftedness is often connected to high expectation, and sharp minds often become self-effacing when expectations are not met.聽 I have watched gifted individuals cower, immobilized by the fear of failure or the dread of creating something less than hoped for.聽 I have watched talented writers discard their ideas and gifted artists cast aside their tools because they heeded 鈥� oftentimes without realizing 鈥搕he sibilant whisper of perfectionism.

I recently listened to a woman speak about her gifted son whom she found, curled into a fetal position on his bedroom floor, sobbing.聽 She spotted a crumpled piece of paper next to him, and when she picked it up, discovered standardized test scores that placed him in the top 3% in every subject but one.

I know a young girl who, at 11, bypassed her teacher鈥檚 instructions to compose a two-page creative writing project for a writer鈥檚 workshop program by penning a fifteen-page short story about an introverted foster child鈥檚 struggles to integrate into her new family.聽 That year, as a sixth-grader, she advanced to a district-wide writing competition.聽 When she didn’t place, she cried and cried, dramatically proclaiming that she would 鈥渘ever write again.鈥澛� The next year, she was awarded first place in the same competition.聽 Her reaction was not joyful or celebratory; she was not excited for her victory 鈥� she was relieved, as though the award was an assurance that she was, well, okay.聽 Like many gifted and high achieving students, she was especially hard on herself; to her, a 鈥淏鈥� was an embarrassing reflection of her own inadequacy.聽 By high school, she was so tired of the tumult in her mind that she abandoned academia altogether and found her identity in other things.聽 I know her as an adult, and she says that she still feels an internal pull to write, but she is afraid.

The desire to perform well or to produce something worthwhile is a laudable thing.聽 When this desire evolves into fear of a less-than-perfect outcome, rendering us incapable of proceeding, we must take measures to fight against the voice that works to unravel our momentum.

In his journal, Ralph Waldo Emerson recorded an observation on writing that might be translated into a commentary on many different types of gifts: 鈥淭he good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the universe which runs through himself and all things.鈥澛� Similarly, the good artist might paint his own translation of reality, but a brilliant work of art will arouse afflatus in viewers and artists across time.聽 An excellent composer might create a piece of music that communicates the cacophony or the gentle melody of a personal experience, yet her song may inspire many, and like Emerson鈥檚 鈥渢hread鈥�, connects her to the rest of the world through the product of her gift.

Our gifts, whether they involve writing, painting, math, engineering, cooking, counseling, or chemistry, are bound to our personalities, spirits, and histories.聽 Although you aren鈥檛 the only talented poet, singer, or graphic designer, your voice, your perspective, and your style are unique.聽 You are in possession of something specific you must offer unto the world.聽 In the words of Dr. Seuss, 鈥淭oday you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.鈥� So I implore you: do not let shackles of perfectionism hold you back.聽 Because the thread of the universe which runs through yourself and all things is part of a magnificent tapestry, and your contribution is vital.

The process of creativity is vulnerable; fear and anxiety are normal feelings attached to vulnerability, and we should never attempt to stifle our own feelings or the feelings of children we are trying to encourage.聽 The words, 鈥淒on鈥檛 feel that way; nobody鈥檚 perfect!鈥� or 鈥淵ou shouldn鈥檛 be so hard on yourself!鈥� do not help.聽 Instead of undermining the very real feelings of uncertainty we face, let us endeavor to fully experience the discomfort of moving forward through the fear, enduring, pushing past the voice of perfectionism, imparting our gifts to the world at large, and contributing to the ultimate tapestry of human creativity.聽 Dani Shapiro, author of memoir and fiction, said, 鈥淚 try to remember that the job 鈥� as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy 鈥� of the artist鈥� (and the mathematician, chemist, teacher, aspiring astronaut, future doctor, ballet dancer, and singer) 鈥渋s to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it. To be birthed by it. Each time we come to the end of a piece of work, we have failed as we have leapt鈥攕pectacularly, brazenly 鈥� into the unknown.鈥�

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