As I watch the physics students carry their rubrics and guidelines for the boat project, I am filled with a sense of nostalgia – nostalgia in the sense that I am glad I am no longer in physics because all my projects were disasters.

First was the catapult. I drilled and fitted together a catapult that looked like it could be used as a table. Nothing short of a nuclear meltdown could destroy it.  When my dad and I tested the arm of the catapult, the ping pong ball went across my porch as far as it needed.

In my class the next morning, the ping pong ball flew short of the target.  I switched my rubber bands holding the arm back. For all three trials. Still I missed the bullseye. My math was wrong, so very wrong.

The first project in second semester was the egg drop. My group and I bent straws and taped them in a diamond shape. We wrapped the rubber bands around the diamond to keep the egg secure. We thought the triangles making up the halves of the diamond would be the sturdiest container for the egg.

We, in fact, were horribly wrong. We miscalculated the ability of the structure, and our egg cracked when we dropped it from the back A wing stairs.  

Then came the musical instrument.  The whole idea of the project was not in my favor, as I am not musically inclined at all.

Using a shoe box, I created a ukulele. I used paper towel rolls at first to create the neck of the ukulele, but they folded from the force of the rubber bands. Luckily my dad had an old piece of my desk in the garage to use as the neck. We seemed to avoid disaster.

Alas, it was for naught as performing a song with my ukulele with no frets was a completely separate disaster. My performance was abysmal, bad singing included. On the second day when my teacher formed us in groups to perform, one of my rubber bands snapped.  I once again had miscalculated the forces at play.

Finally came the boat project.

My partner and I build our boat rather quickly and tested it; when it started sinking, we made the necessary adjustments to our boat. However, our calculations of the water pressure and the  size of the boat were, you guessed it, wrong. The fateful day arrived, and we went in the first round of races in the afternoon. I had been lifeguarding along with my other swim teammates, and I got ready to sail.

We sank like a bag of rocks. The senior swim boys laughed at me, and I laughed with them. By this time, the water felt nice, and I was glad to have gotten the project over with. I got back in the pool and lifeguarded for the remainder of the session.  

These projects have taught me physics and I do not mix, and it’s better to laugh at your failures than wallow in them.