Friday, February 10th: My day started off as most work days do. I looked through my email, attended a meeting, drank some coffee and made a list of action items for the day. However, Friday the 10th, was no ordinary day because I had an official invite to be interviewed by the Journeys School pre-kindergarten class. This month, the students have been researching the important question: “what makes someone a grown-up?” Through pure luck, adjacency to their classroom and good timing, I had the good fortune of being interviewed by these mini scientists as a part of their ongoing research. Am I a grown-up? You’ll have to read more to find out.
Fifteen minutes prior to the interview, I received this list of questions so that I could prepare accordingly:
- How old are you? (We think you are grown-up if you are 14 or 20).
- Do you go grocery shopping by yourself? Does your mom go for you or do you go WITH your mom?
- Who makes your dinner? Is it your mom? Is it your dad?
- Do you have your driver’s license?
- Do you have kids?
- Do you go to work?
- Can you make a fire without help?
- Do you drink coffee?
- Can you ice skate without falling down?
- Can you start a chainsaw?
Needless to say, these kids had some specific, thoughtful questions. Once I sat down with them and they worked through the list, the students determined whether my answers qualified me as a grown-up or “just a kid.” My inability to start a chainsaw really worked against my level of adulthood, but the fact that I shop AND cook for myself made up for the deficit. Through scientific inquiry and (somewhat) heated debate, the pre-k students were able to conclude that I am mostly a grown-up. I learned that one of the most polarizing characteristics of a grown-up is whether you drink coffee and/or whether you know how to assemble a cheeseburger.
The Journeys School pre-k class will continue to think critically about how we know when we are grown-up through more research, discussion and interviews. I plan on dedicating time to becoming more grownup by ice-skating without falling down. Thank you to the pre-k students and their teacher, Emmy, for inviting me to class and letting me be a part of their scientific research!
