When Kenny Kinds got accepted into engineering school, it was the best and worst day of his life.
As a teenager, he knew it wasn’t his dream. It was his father’s. Kinds realized over time that he shouldn’t have pursued engineering when he received report cards full of terrible grades, which he’d hide from his parents. Eventually, a professor asked him not to come back to school.
At The Story Collider’s “Moment of Clarity” show at The Ready Room, Kinds and four others told stories about times when they’ve come to terms with painful truths.
That night, storytellers shared moments that included becoming aware of one’s own cultural privilege in an impoverished African country, learning firsthand that women are treated worse than men in the engineering industry and seeing clearly that one is in an abusive relationship.
The next Story Collider shows in St. Louis will take place July 11 and Oct. 24. If you have a personal science story you’d like to share for a future show, send a one- or two-paragraph pitch to stories@storycollider.org.
Below are five stories that were presented at The Ready Room in St. Louis on the evening of March 7.
Comedian Kenny Kinds struggles in engineering school.
Biologist Danielle Lee looks for giant rats in Africa and tries to find a sense of belonging.
Anthropologist Chelsey Carter discovers she's in an abusive relationship.
Biochemist Katie Czeschin acquires and blends cow brains to study Alzheimer's disease.
Engineer Jenna Niebuhr approaches a cancer diagnosis like an engineering problem.
Follow Eli on Twitter: @StoriesByEli
Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org
