Odyssey of the Mind is a very unique club that focuses on team work and creativity.
Photo By: Isabella Rivera, Photographer
By: Camila Mota, Copy Editor
Many clubs at Seminole High School promote creativity and teamwork, yet Odyssey of the Mind takes these ideas to a new level. The unique opportunity of creative problem-solving with a team through brainstorming and self-sufficiency makes Odyssey of the Mind standout amongst extracurricular activities at Seminole High.
Odyssey of the Mind is a club where teams choose a question known as a “long-term problem,” and teams can solve the questions through theatrical performances or engineering processes. Seminole High School’s teams have demonstrated proclivity towards Odyssey of the Mind by competing and placing in state and even world championships. From its multiple wins, the Odyssey of the Mind team at Seminole has won one third place title and two first place titles in 2011, 2012, 2013, respectively.
President of Seminole High School’s Odyssey of the Mind senior Aneesh Jindal says, “The club has certainly grown over the years, from two or three teams a few years ago to six this year. The club promotes ingenuity and teamwork among the members. Working with a group of people to solve the most ridiculous and arbitrary question is an excellent exercise in thinking outside the box.”
The Odyssey of the Mind teams represent and bring out the diversity of Seminole by demonstrating the uniqueness of the school through their own creativity and uniqueness through spontaneous problem solving at competitions. The spontaneous portion of Odyssey of the Mind competitions requires teams to walk into a room not knowing what to expect. The Seminole High Odyssey of the Mind team once faced a challenge requiring the team to make high-pitched sounds with only a few pieces of string.
Seminole’s Odyssey of the Mind sponsor Mrs. Kelly Meahl says, “Odyssey of the Mind allows students to develop resourcefulness and quick creative thinking; [it’s a] great outlet for personal expression while developing presentation skills.”
Teams who participate in Seminole’s Odyssey of the Mind may have help from coaches, but the outcome of the problem is in the hands of the team members. An Odyssey of the Mind participant doesn’t receive their sense of accomplishment from numbers on a scoreboard but by the fast creative thinking that the team produces in order to succeeded.
Junior Eshtemoh Morgan says, “Odyssey of the Mind can be used in my life to come up with creative solutions for problems I face. The club also helps solve problems with teamwork; the club does not actually take time from my school requirements.”
Odyssey of the Mind is offered at many schools across the globe for students from as young as Kindergarten to 12th grade. The implementation of creativity in real-world situations into the minds of young generations encourages students of all ages to apply the skills learned in Odyssey of the Mind to their own personal experiences throughout their lives.