We are Destination Procrastination, a group of six energetic and hardworking John Glenn Middle School 7th graders. We won the State Tournament in March. Help us realize our dream of competing in the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri from May 20th to 23rd.
How You Can Help
The chance to compete at the Global Finals is an exciting and amazing opportunity, and it will be an experience to remember. We will meet and make friends with other creative students from all over the world. It is a costly affair however, as we need to pay for a sizable registration fee ($5500) in addition to airfare, housing, and meals for the 6 of us plus our team manager and parents. Therefore, our team is asking for your support in helping us reach our goal to make this trip possible so we can attend the world’s largest celebration of creativity, and compete against the best of the best!
What is DI
Destination Imagination, or DI, is an international educational program that focuses on kid-led learning, and provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. DI encourages students to solve problems in innovative ways. Team members work together, completely without adult interference and assistance, on long-term STEAM challenges that require creating a skit that is presented in competitions around the state and country in March. Top-scoring teams are then invited to compete at the DI Global Finals in May.
The Team
We are Destination Procrastination, a DI team that has been competing since 2019, from the age of 8. Ever since the start, our team was constantly growing and changing. In the past years, we have gotten the chance to go to the Globals competition twice, but in 2020 were shut down by the pandemic. Last year, we also qualified, but could not make it due to personal reasons. From the start of this year, we were determined and have worked extremely hard with a common goal in mind, going to the Global Finals. Our team placed First at the Massachusetts State Tournament in Beverly, MA on March 12th. Not only our confidence grew, but so was our friendship. We believed in ourselves, and we did it! We very much want to experience attending and competing at the Global Finals because we truly believe we have earned it and deserve it. We would like to proudly represent not only our school, but our town, Bedford, and the whole State of Massachusetts as Destination Procrastination.
What We Did
This year, we participated in the Scientific Challenge, Far-Fetched. We were tasked with creating a tall tale with an exaggerated character who exhibited a hyperbolic trait. We were then to present a scientific analysis that proved whether or not the trait could be manifested in real life. Our team created and presented a skit to tell the origin of the saying, “I’m so hungry, I can eat a cow”. We made up the tall tale, of course! We created an exaggerated character, Botox, an overconfident person who boasts the ability to be able to consume 600 pounds worth of food. This challenge really played off of everyone’s strengths and we enjoyed creating our solution. We are able to present an engaging skit, entirely on our own.
What We Learned
DI encourages us to integrate creativity, integrity, and dedication into our solutions. It is a learning experience that has helped us practice and develop skills that will last us a lifetime. We learned how to sew and how to solder; we drilled and painted; we integrated motors, switches, and pulley systems into our solutions; we brainstormed and researched; we worked as a team to evaluate ideas and made decisions without adult assistance. We learned to cooperate and respect the ideas of others. We have gained greater self-confidence and increased self-esteem through working on challenging tasks. Most importantly, we learned to think outside the box and see that there is often more than one way to solve a problem and that sometimes the process is more important than the end result. But overall, we learned to be creative in ways that we might have never thought of and we challenged ourselves to go through with it all.
Meet the Team!
(from left to right)
Veronica, age 12: I like to read, listen to music, and draw. I am in the orchestra, band, chorus, and the High School Marching Band. In my free time, I figure skate and am in the school musical. I love DI because I can really work hard with my friends and have fun.
Ridhi, age 13: I like to read books, run, and singing. I do Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam, and Carnatic singing. I also love to sleepover with my friends and have fun with my DI team! I like DI because it combines my two favorite things: fun and friends. Our team is so much fun to work with and I'm so glad that we made it this far
Nysha, age 12: I like to read, draw, and listen to music. I play viola and guitar and am in the school orchestra. I like DI because it is a place where I can connect with my friends and really relax, but work hard at the same time.
Jaeyul, age 13: I like to read books, swim, and listen to music. I play piano, and accompany the chorus, and am in the track team. I also have an interest in math. I like DI because I get to spend quality time solving problems with friends, and to know each other better.
Joshua, age 13: I like reading and running. I am on the track team and do karate. I have some interest in math. I like DI because I get to work with fun people.
Ansel, age 13: I like to play soccer, play with ideas in my mind, and read. I'm in the orchestra, newspaper, and I'm on the soccer team. In my free time, I like to read and run. I love DI because the environment that is created is so friendly and so intellectually challenging. It's a place where I can have fun, yet be challenged in ways I'd never thought of.
Thank you so much for your help in advance!
Sincerely,
Veronica, Ridhi, Nysha, Jaeyul, Joshua, Ansel (and our team manager Chialin)
All Proceeds Support Bedford Destination Imagination
Organizer
