Bulls-Ideas

Ever since I became an archer and found out kind of how heat seeking stuff works (from a class I took), I thought, “why not try and make a heat seeking arrow?” Because then, people could make targets with different levels of heat in each section and it could be easier/harder to get a bullseye. I found this thing you can buy to make your own thermocam. Only problem, it’s $299. Do I have $299? No. BUT WAIT! Then I found something that said you could make it for $107. Do I have $107? No, but it’s a better price than $299.

The next day at school, I go up to my friend, Jacque, and ask him if he could look over something. I then hand him some papers with sketches of the heat-seeking arrow. He skims them over and then replies, “I’ll have to ask my dad about these. You know I can’t read sketch-kinda stuff.” In case you didn’t know, his father just so happens to be an engineer. This means that there is a chance I could actually make this!

I hear a ring at my doorbell. When I answer the door, Jacque is standing there, like he was waiting for a billion years. “Yo, my dad wanted to talk to you about the paper thingies. When I showed it to him, he looked as if you had just given him a big chocolate cake.” Jacque had a big smile plastered on his face and when I walked out of the doorframe to go to his house, he gave me a little punch in the shoulder. It was pretty much the “Jacque Seal of Approval,” when he did that.

The garage door at his house was open. We walked right in and, as usual, saw Jacque’s dad. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to find him here. He was normally working on something.

“Hey buddy, I saw these papers of yours – he paused to hold them up – these look great! Only a few things here that I couldn’t understand,” he started pointing out some of my grammatical errors.

“Yeah, so I think I could maybe DIY this, but how am I supposed to make the heat-seeking part of it so tiny to fit into an arrow?” I question.

“That’s what we call,” he waited for effect, “technology!”

I laughed as he directed me over to his computer.

“I’ve been researching this, and… it seems as if only the government has access to all this heat-seeking information,” he states.

“BUT you could make a model of it for the science fair,” he notes.

The science fair! I had forgotten all about that! I could get a scholarship if I won! I say bye to Jacque and his dad and walk back home. As soon as I make it into my room, I start brainstorming ideas for the science fair. I suppose making a mini model would work. I’m not the best at sketching, so let’s hope the model turns out good. I then propose my idea to my mom about doing the science fair.

“Yeah, we can go to Craftiest on Saturday to get what you need,” she replies.

“Yay!” I run back up the stairs and continue brainstorming.

I wake up, only to realize it’s 3 pm! Did I really sleep that long? Actually, no. I stayed up sketching. But – Craftiest closes in an hour! I quickly change and run downstairs to see my mom waiting, with a cream cheese bagel on the table. I pick it up and start munching.

“I thought you would never come!” she chuckles.

“Sorry, but I’m here now!” I say with a mouthful of crumbs. We walk out the door, hop into the car, and soon enough are on our way to Craftiest.

Once we arrive there my mother asks, “Do you want me to come in or should I stay in the car?”

“You can come in, but I can’t promise I’ll stay with you,” I respond. I frantically run around, trying to grab everything I need before they close.

“Ten minutes until close,” someone says over the PA.

Where could the glue be? Of course this is the one thing I can’t find. I continue looking until I hear, “Five minutes until close, please try to come up to the register now if possible,” the (seems to be) same person says. I might just have to go without the glue. Maybe tape could substitute? Or I can just check another store; see if they have some.

“Mom, I didn’t find any glue, could we go to a different store?” I question.

“Sure, there’s a Deals for Dollars next door,” she replies.

We walk over there and I check every aisle, still not seeing anything. I give up and decide to ask a store clerk.

“Hello? Um… do you know where glue might be?” I ask.

“We’re actually in a glue shortage right now,” she responds.

“Glue shortage? How is that even possible?”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t know,” she grins.

“Well, thanks anyway!” I pretend to keep a smile on my face as I walk away.

How in the world do you manage that? Guess I’m stuck with tape. The thing about tape is that it’s not going to provide the finished look I need or want. I tell my mom about the glue shortage and she just seems to laugh it off.

Once I’m back home, I can start assembling stuff. I start with the base of the arrow, then build up until I’m done. I tried taping from the inside so it looks better, and that seems to help. Since I’ve already done most of the research, this should be easy. I grab the giant poster board that I got and start writing stuff on it that I had noted. On Monday at school, Jacque seems surprised when I tell him I finished the project.

“Already? That was only 3 days!”

“Well, I guess I was just excited!” I say with a smile on my face. Now I only have to wait 4 days, 18 hours, and 11 minutes!

Today is the day! I hop out of bed, change into one of my best fancy outfits, and open my closet only to find my project isn’t there! What? I checked every day and today is when it disappears? I rush down the stairs, hoping to find it soon.

“It’s already in the car, don’t worry,” she says calmly.

I stop, mid-run, and turn around slowly.

“Ya sure?” I say with a terrified look on my face.

“Sure,” she replies.

We make it to the science fair, and while my mom is taking my project out of the trunk, I turn around and see Jacque waving to me from the entrance of the building. Once my mom has grabbed the project, she hands it over to me and says, “Good luck!” I walk into the building with Jacque by my side, set up my project on the table, and wait for the judges. I instantly stand up straighter as soon as they start walking over.

“Hello, please explain your project to us,” one says.

“My plan was to make a model of a heat-seeking arrow. Because then people could make bullseyes with different levels of heat so it could be easier or harder depending on what you want,” I said.

“Mhm, interesting. You can join the rest of the students while we discuss,” another replies.

I walk over to the auditorium stage and stand by the other students. We start whispering to each other but quickly quiet when the judges try getting our attention.

“Hello! All of you have great projects but we have to choose first, second, and third place. Take it away, Sarah!” a judge says.

“I will be announcing the person that got third place,” Sarah starts. “Third place is… Emily Sériz!” she finishes.

“Second place is… Lincoln Pofer!” another judge says.

This is it! I could either get first place or not place at all. I feel sweat dripping down my forehead.

“First place is… Teddy Ulander!” the last judge smiles.

I did it! I got first! I won the scholarship! Me!

Later as I walk out, I see my mother beaming at me. I hand her the certificate and see her smile grow wider and wider to the point of where it’s almost scary.

“You got the scholarship! You’ve done it! I knew you could!” she says as her eyes glisten almost as bright as the sun.

“Thanks!” I reply.

“Great job!” Jacque grins.

It’s 10 years later and time for my job interview for Engineers On Display. I walk into the office I was told to go to and the so-called boss points to a chair for me to sit in.

“So you’re telling me that you thought of this at age 14?” he points to my description and model of the heat seeking arrow.

“Mhm.”

“Well, I have two things to tell you. One, that’s incredible. And two, your dream is now reality,” he replies.

I see him point to a colorful box that says, “Heat seeking arrow. NEW! Fun for everyone!”

“It’s already been patented in your name. Welcome to the job, Teddy.”