BPHS OOTM World's Competition Iowa

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem solving team sport where students work together for eight months to perform a solution that lasts eight minutes. Crazy, right? Our team has been competing together for eight years, this is our third trip to World's competition, so we feel like we must be doing something right. We are excited to go to Iowa and meet teams from all over the world that love the creativity and challenge of OOTM as much as we do. We are asking your help to cover the cost of traveling and shipping our sets, costumes and props before the competition at the end of May. Given the opportunity, we will make New York proud!

In our own words--
"Odyssey of the Mind is an amazing program. My favorite thing about OotM is the bond I have with my teammates, built over the past 10 years and gaining problem solving skills that this program is famous for. World’s competition is an extraordinary experience and it’s hard to pinpoint one thing I like best. I love meeting new people from all over the world. While I am uncertain of my exact plans after high school, I do know I want to work on a team and the problem solving skills I have learned will promote my understanding of others that definitely helps in teamwork." - Ava

"My favorite part of OOTM is the fact that everything my team and I make is completely ours. The script, the characters, the sets and costumes are all us. No one tells us what we can and can’t do, making OOTM different from most school clubs. I’m looking forward to World’s competition because it's an opportunity to meet people from other cultures and being from a very small town I normally would not get that chance. I’m thinking about attending UAlbany to study communications and work in the emergency management field." - Erin

"My favorite part of OOTM is being able to go up on stage with my teammates and put on a crazy show for a bunch of strangers. I absolutely love being able to perform and be silly with my best friends, as well as step outside of my comfort zone. At World’s, I am looking forward to being able to see all of the other incredible teams from around the world and look at all the different ways people can solve the same problem. I am hoping to go into criminology or psychology, so OOTM has helped provide me with great problem solving skills and ways to look at things with a different perspective which can be useful in those fields."  - Caylie

"The Odyssey of the Mind program has given me not only incredible experiences but also my closest friends in the world. It continues to push me out of my comfort zone to perform and share my ideas with others so we can work together and solve countless problems throughout the year and on the spot. At World’s, I am most excited to meet people from around the world and see how others solved the problem we chose. Pin trading is another activity everyone at World’s loves. It allows us to talk to others about their journey and where they come from. After high school I plan to attend college for pre-med and one day work in the medical field. Odyssey of the Mind has helped me tremendously in gaining skills for a job in the medical field such as teamwork, thinking outside of the box, public speaking, and coming up with a creative solution quickly." - Avery

"I feel that I have gained so much more from the Odyssey of the Mind program over the past ten years than I have from anything else in my school career. This program has heightened my problem-solving skills and has helped me master the crafts of woodworking, construction, and painting. OotM has also cultivated a bond like no other between my teammates and I after being together for nine years. In the future, I plan to go into a career that combines mathematics and problem-solving. Odyssey of the Mind has allowed me to discover my interest in math and to be able to find the less obvious solution to problems. This program has definitely had a great impact on my life and I’m sure it will continue to in the future." - Rhys