Sunday, November 2, 2014

Costume FTW


Andrew and I went to my nephews’ Halloween dance last weekend. I’ve gone with them every year and Andrew has gone his entire life. And every year I wear the same costume.
The idea of this costume was born one Halloween long ago. I was working in Fremont and had recently made friends with a cool girl who worked in the same building as me. We were super cool single gals with no real plans for Halloween. As we walked out of our building we found ourselves in a sea of people, all ages, in costume parading through the streets. Someone told us it was Troll-oween and everyone was welcome in the parade. We looked at each other, shrugged and decided to join in. We went back into lab, put on lab coats, goggles and gloves and set out to parade Fremont.

Then she moved away and my biggest Halloween plan was the elementary school dance. And every year I rehashed the same costume. My nephews always liked it and it was easy.



This year I thought about leaving it at home. My sister never dresses up and since I had the world’s cutest banana with me, I figured I didn’t need any embellishment. But I thought, it is cool to be a scientist and I like helping remind kids of that.



So I donned my stock costume.
About halfway through the dance a teenage girl, who had obviously been dragged along to her little siblings’ school dance, asked me if my coat was real. I said it was and we started talking about research and science and how science is the most fun subject in school. She said she wants to be a pilot. I wish her lots of luck. High school is a hard time and staying focused/figuring out what you want is hard. Even if our little interaction was a microscopic nano-encouragement, it is still the most worthwhile Halloween costume I’ve worn to date.



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2 comments:

Ali said...

WTG! I love the post and you are an inspiration to all young scientists!!! Glad to see you carrying on the tradition. Even this scientist (who is sadly older), feels inspired anew!! Thanks!!

Kathy said...

Yay for inspiring young girls who need good role models! :) I have a sticker on my lesson plan binder that says something like, "Other people see their possibilities in your realities." Love it! :)