I can't draw, How am I creative?

Does the phrase “That’s a stupid idea” sound familiar to you?

I heard those four words a lot in my life. My ideas and dreams constantly get shut down by people in my life, from my parents to my teachers. Until my sophomore year of high school, I felt restricted and chained down to societal norms. I felt like things had to be carried out in a certain way, and I was rewarded for this thinking with my grades. If someone were to describe me as creative, I would have responded with: “No way, I can’t draw!”. 

Then came Mr. McCrea, my high-school Innovation and Design teacher.

He was all about hands-on work and creating anything we could think of. He wanted us to enable our creative minds and described his class as “a break from school and grades”. He treated all of our ideas as valuable as gold and urged us to pursue them to creation. Because of him, I rekindled my inner Creative. Because of him, I now feel empowered by my ideas. Because of him, I am who I am today.

I believe that everyone has creativity within themselves. Sometimes, it just takes something special to silence their voice of judgment and let their ideas run wild.

Name: Maks Revelle

Major: Emerging Technology in Business Design and Entrepreneurship 

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Finneytown, Ohio

Fun Fact: I got to perform with The Who onstage in Cincinnati