Getting Yourself Out of Sticky Situations
From Stepping Up
Getting Yourself Out of Sticky Situations
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Running into problems can make an otherwise pleasant science fair experience go sour. However, with the right amount of creativity and outside-the-box thinking, you can get around most problems with poise.
Contents |
General Strategies
- Don't freak out: Probably the most important tip when facing a crisis - freaking out, getting angry or emotional doesn't help anyone. It actually hinders your ability to come up with a solution to your problem.
- Get it early: If you sense a crisis impending, don't procrastinate and start solving it immediately. The earlier you catch a problem, the easier it usually is to solve.
- Be creative: If you're facing a crisis, don't butt your head against traditional solutions that won't work in your situation. Be creative about your approach and perhaps you can be better off then when you started.
- Ask for help: Usually at science fairs, there are many people around you that are willing to help, be it your chaperones, your peers, or officials from the fair. Don't be shy - ask for help!
- Be realistic: When you're looking for a solution to your problem, be honest about your potential solutions - leaving your fate up to a slim chance doesn't help! Don't lose hope, keep your cool.
Example: Project Board Lost in Shipping
Possible Solutions
- Get your chaperone's help: rather than do all the legwork yourself in finding the board, ask your chaperone for assistance in dealing with the courier company. More often then not, they'll be better able to figure out what's going on since they probably organized the shipping.
- If there's even the slightest possibility that the board won't make it in time for judging, start working immediately on a backup board. Certainly, it probably won't look as great as your real board, but it's better than having no board at all! Use the electronic backups of your board that you brought along as a starting point works - you did bring backups, right? The organizing committee will usually have some materials to help you get a very basic board started, and access to a computer and printer. If your board magically shows up before judging, you're saved - if not, at least you have something.
Example: Mentor Away when Forms are Due
Once you're on your way to the Canada-Wide or ISEF, there are forms that your mentor needs to fill out so that everyone is happy. But, most mentors being active scientists in their fields, they may just be on a trip when you realize you need to get these forms in, and thus you can't get their signature - and there's only 3 days remaining!
Possible Solutions
- Notify Everyone: Make sure everyone involved, from your regional fair to your teacher know the situation - and make sure you do this when you realize there's a problem, not just when there's only 2 days left before the paperwork deadline. Through letting people know, there's a chance that there may be an easy solution; maybe the deadline is flexible, maybe your teacher counts as a mentor with respect to the form you need to have filled; in either case, you won't know unless you tell people about your problem
- Think Outside the Box: In this day an age, there's many solutions to not being in physical contact with someone. Forms are generally available in PDF format, which can be scanned and then e-mailed back with signatures. Futher, fax machines are still around. Don't let yourself get preoccupied with traditional solutions, where there are so many more options that may suit your problem well!
- Contingency Plans A contingency plan is a plan devised for situations when things do not go smoothly. Contingency plans are often devised to cover the essentials. It's simple. List all the things you absolutely need for your science fair to succeed, and match these items with events that can go wrong. Contingency plans are sometimes known as "Back-up plans", "Worst-case scenario plans" or "Plan B". In most cases, contingencies do not have to be used - but they are good to have.
This article was written by:
Mubdi Rahman and Lisa-Marie Assenza
