The Creativity of Perfection

Throughout high school, I strived to be perfect. I desired perfect grades and did every assignment following the instructions down to the detail. I knew what my teachers were looking for, and I gave them exactly what they wanted. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this was killing my creativity. My desire to have perfection conditioned me to throw away my creativity one assignment at a time. 

I’ve realized now that to be creative, you need to fail. To have creativity, the outcome of a grade cannot be worried about. Creativity is all about being playful, leaving your solutions to a problem up to the wildest ideas of your imagination. Creativity is unlearned, but it can be relearned just as easily.

By: Zach Clouse

Year: Sophomore

Major: Computer Science, Mathematics, and Entrepreneurship

Hometown: Pataskala, Ohio

Fun fact: I've never been stung by a bee