Fear will always be there
NAUKA JEST FAJNA
Bydgoszcz | Poland
As a child, I wanted to be a teacher or a seller in a local shop, that was my dream - says Justyna Karpińska, founder of Nauka Jest Fajna. I was creating books for children, school tasks, I was making dramas in a shop. Today, both those dreams came true.
Justyna opened a business called Nauka Jest Fajna [Science is cool], which encourages children in a creative and active way to learn science. According to her dreams from childhood, Justyna became a teacher, or rather a non-formal educator, as well as a seller – she sells services mainly to schools, kindergartens and parents.
Usually we organize workshops out of parents' initiative. It's a good sign, they see the need to work with kids on their curiosity and science talents. We work with all classes, also teachers and school directors support our activities, helping with organization or giving us the room. The main initiative is usually on the parents side.
Parents, as much as Justyna, understand that chemistry, physics or biology can be at the beginning difficult to understand, but they are so fascinating!
During my biotechnological studies I learned so many fascinating things like genetics, metabolism, how our organism functions. The knowledge was often passed in a way that was not so interesting, it was difficult to get captivated. I started to think how difficult it has to be for children, for them it's even more difficult to imagine those things. I thought it would be great to translate science to children language, give them the chance to develop their talents and understand the world.
At the same time, a friend of mine asked me if I know how to do chemical explosions. Professor Nalaskowski from Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika in Toruniu decided to open a science laboratory for children – interdisciplinary weekend workshops - and he was looking for somebody to prepare the activities. I thought: well, I don't know explosions, but I can learn! And that's how everything started. I got a great chance from the professor, who saw my talent and made me aware that this is really something I should do, that I'm really good at it even if at that moment it was hard for me to believe.
Today nobody has doubts, Justyna leads a great team, plenty of workshops, children are delighted.
The number of kids is bigger and bigger. The coolest is that they come back and open themselves for science. We can see their passion. Their curiosity grows. I am the happiest when parents come to us to say their children want to have a microscope or test-tubes for their birthday. We started from zero, without network experience, but today, after two years, more than 4000 children took part in our workshops.
And that's just the beginning. Plans are much bigger.
I would like to organize something for parents. I want to involve them, so they also have tools to work with children on science and creativity. I think also about intergenerational workshops, with grandparents.
But the main motivation was and still are children.
Sometimes I have low energy, so many things are happening. I work on the administrative side of the company, in the office, on networking, at the same time I lead workshops. Sometimes joggling between all those tasks is really challenging. What helps me the most is the direct work with children. It always gives me so much energy. Children are definitely my main motivation, those who are curious, that can't wait for the next meeting, ask lots of questions, are delighted, surprised. In general people are my driving force, also adults. I love networking meetings, exchanging experiences. People are the most important in all this.
People and fulfilling dreams. Especially those from childhood.
Some time ago I started to be interested to know to which extent people fulfill their dreams from childhood. I noticed that those among my friends who are satisfied from their job, have the bigger passion, do what they dreamt of when they were kids. I think that a child can intuitively recognize their predispositions. The question is whether we are able to notice it and put it into action in the right moment. I think that you need to just follow yourself, change dreams into plans, act beside your fear. Fear will always be there and life is only one.
More about Nauka jest Fajna: naukajestfajna.edu.pl