Can creativity be taught? We are given so many expectations in school, and our plates become so full of obligations, guidelines, and tasks, that what is really of value within an individual—curiosity, uniqueness, and creativity—is being undermined. Undermining the interior value of each individual doesn’t only happen with us students, but even when it comes to college admissions, universities all guide themselves by pretty much the same things before admitting someone (community and service, sports, being part of a school club, etc.), and they aren’t taking into consideration that there can still be incredible candidates for their university without necessarily meeting these guidelines. They might be seeking for creativity within the students they’re analyzing, but they are also lacking creativity by seeking for the same aspects in each student. The modern world “encourages” creativity, but is it really that easy? To just say, be creative, and immediately ignite that creative part of your brain? If it were that simple, then we’d already be using time machines and traveling through tele transporters. Thinking creatively isn’t something you can just do from one moment to the next; it’s something that one must develop over time, if their mind is set to it. I’d have to say, that what ignited my creativity was reading the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck, and still, I believe that there is room for more creativity because it has no limits. I’m not saying this book taught me how to be creative; like I said earlier I think that creativity isn’t something you can just teach, but what it did teach me was that I CAN be creative, that I COULD change this closed idea that I wasn’t “the creative type”. Many people say that. “I’m not the creative type”, and I too was guilty of this. People who say this are indirectly closing themselves from succeeding in most opportunities life has to offer. It has become a common stereotype that creativity must come hand-in-hand with an art (visual arts, writing, music, etc), but who says that math can’t be creative? Or biology? How do you think that famous biologists make their discoveries? With curiosity and creativity. Can creativity be taught? No, but it can be developed. It all starts with breaking that stereotype and telling yourself that you CAN be creative, and what comes after that, depends on the individual. There is no fixed way of developing your creativity, because everyone has their own passions and ideas. What made me creative, was questioning. A question comes hand-in-hand with the intrigue for an answer, and when I started questioning what happened around me on a daily basis, I became more and more passionate about seeking for these answers. I was questioning so often that many questions were left unanswered, so I started getting creative and began drawing to my own conclusions. By doing so, I slowly developed a new, and original way of thinking that was personalized to myself, which was when I thought to myself, “Camila, you got creative”. Though this may be a very repetitive phrase (that’s what I though before), after really experiencing this change, I can now say, from experience, that the key to become creative is that change in your mentality to stop closing in the idea that “you're not the creative type”. Creativity is the key to success in the modern world, so you better start changing your mentality A.S.A.P.
1 Comment
Bon
6/2/2015 12:39:30 am
I really got hooked by your introduction because you call out on how our society contradicts itself. On one hand, we want people to be creative but then we don't really value it when it comes to university admissions etc. In the second part of your blog post though you move to a different idea and you discuss how one can become creative. In a way, it feels like you have two different blog posts. Both are meaningful, but the messages would be more impactful if conveyed in 2 separate blog posts. Take a look at my comments here:
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Camila BustamanteClass of 2017 Archives
May 2015
Categories |