“You learn something new every day…”

22 July 2017 was indeed a memorable day for me — a fun-filled adventure that was also educational at the same time.

It was a sunny, and perfectly normal Tuesday and I came to school to meet with the News and Journalism Club. We were told we would be meeting with Open Data Durban but did not know why.

We had a brief meet-and-greet and quickly set out to do the first exercise of the day, which was rather peculiar in nature for me because we were asked to draw portraits of ourselves with our eyes closed. Then, we were given the same amount of time to draw our self-portraits with our eyes open. Although it seemed weird at the start, we did draw some insightful observations and learn that this activity redefined our understandings of creativity. According to NK, our Open Data Durban facilitator, everyone can be creative.

After the exercise, we took a little break and were told that our school is fortunate enough to be a lucky recipient for a weather station, courtesy of Open Data Durban. After NK showed us the disintegrated parts of the weather station and we were forced to play with each part, without knowing its purpose. This allowed us to be creative with what was in front of us and to brainstorm about the names of all the parts and their functions.

Multiple failed attempts later, we were told what we needed to know about the wires, the motherboard, and the other parts and we got to work assembling the weather station. This was a highlight for me because I learned that the weather station had to be coded first in order for its function, which I had very little knowledge of.

Nonetheless, it was very rewarding because I learned more about Computer Science, a field I am planning to enter next year in University.

The whole activity was insightful, fun-filled, and enjoyable. Long story short, it was remarkable. I am looking forward to installing the weather station at our school and seeing what comes next!