Are you a person who wants to explore new ideas and concepts while firing up those creative brain cells? The new club on campus called Odyssey of the Mind is looking for you.

Odyssey of the Mind -- OM, for short -- was created in 1978 by Dr. C. Sam Micklus of Rowan University in New Jersey. His objective was to give students the opportunity to develop solutions to problems by thinking outside the box.

Joining the Club

Dawn Whinnery, an English and Psychology student at Arizona Western College is bringing the program to campus as part of her Capstone Project in the Honors Program. For the past three years she has been involved with OM by volunteering and then coaching her 11-year-old son in the program at his school.

"It's not about grades," said Whinnery. "It's about being creative, thinking in a different way and working with your team."

The requirements for joining the club are simple: applicants need a high school diploma, they need to be enrolled in at least one course at AWC next semester and they need to bring the creativity that they are willing to explore in themselves and share with others.

"OM to me is about tapping into your inner creativity to resolve issues, problems," said club advisor Liz Renaud, AWC professor of Early Childhood Development. "Failure is seen as a normal part of the solution process, and perspective is gained by engaging in the process."

Endless possibilities

The OM program provides six problems for creative minds to solve. One is a non-competitive primary problem to introduce younger students to creative problem solving.

There are five problem-solving categories:

• "Mechanical/Vehicle," in which a vehicle is designed either to drive or perform a task,
• "Classics," based on a classical form from literature, architecture or art,
• "Performance," with teams presenting a specific theme and incorporating required performance elements,
• "Structure," in which a team designs and builds structures using balsa wood and glue,
• "Technical Performance," which gives teams the opportunity to make innovative contraptions and incorporate artistic elements into their presentation.

Each year the program morphs the categories into a new challenge. Teams of seven are created to spend the school year working together to figure out a new and inventive way to present their answers to the challenge.

Competitions are held at the regional, state and international levels. This year the international competition will be held in May at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

It is also possible to join with a "buddy" team from another country to complete a project.

The opportunities are endless; the excitement and the challenges are rewarding. Who knows, contestants might even realize that they are great creative geniuses just waiting to be discovered.

For more information call Dawn Whinnery at (925)640-8215.