What were you doing when you were 10? Did it ever cross your mind to think about wanting to build a robot that would roam the streets of your sad city and make them “happy again” by creating street art?
That's just what an enterprising, smart and imaginative 10-year-old Parisian girl called Eva has done. Eva applied for a summer fellowship to an organisation, Five by Five, that usually only processes applications from international PhD students of computer science, and experienced urban designers.
The young coder didn't say she was 10 in her application. What she did say is that: "The streets of Paris are sad. I want to build a robot that will make them happy again. I've already starting learning how to code on Thymio robots, but I have trouble making it work. I want to join the program so the mentors can help me."
The streets of Paris have been very sad indeed over the last year; a fact that has filtered down to all its citizens, clearly even its youngest. While people in government try to make the streets safer, Eva just wants to make them happier.
The idea of a kind of robotic Banksy roaming the boulevards of Paris, making street art while watched by astonished passersby, would make anyone smile. It made the organisers of the programme catch their breath and pay attention.
The head of the organisation, Kat Borlongan, wrote back to Eva in a letter that has since gone viral via Facebook. Here's some of what she had to say to her:
“Dear Eva,
“The answer is yes. You have been selected as one of Paris’ first-ever Summer Innovation Fellows. I love your project. I am writing to you personally because your application inspired me. You’ve openly told us that you had trouble making the robot work on your own and needed help. That was a brave thing to admit, and ultimately what convinced us to take on your project. Humility and the willingness to learn in order to go beyond our current limitations are at the heart and soul of innovation.
“It is my hope that your work on robotics will encourage more young girls all over the world – not just to code, but to be as brave as you, in asking for help and actively looking for different ways to learn and grow. More good news: I wrote to Thymio, the robotics company whose tech you use and asked if they could designate a specialist to personally help you. They have decided that that person will be their president himself. They will also be providing you their latest robot.”
The sign off is almost the best bit of this story: “Welcome aboard our spaceship, Eva.”
Here’s to Eva, inspiring young coders around the world, especially girls, and also inspiring all the rest of us to dream big, no matter what age we are. Her spaceship awaits.
