The day started with us heading to the first school of the day. The visit to two schools were on our busy schedule with more than a hundred kids waiting for Prof. Maruyama, who was just about to teach them one of the most amazing laws of nature ever discovered: The principle of action and reaction. The explanation started as good explanations ought to start with, with a question… Why do rockets fly? And then with a much more personal one, why can we jump? This is how Prof. Maruyama captured immediately the attention of the young audience. Most of the kids were wondering how a flying rocket is related with our ability to jump. Then we all jumped, like super heroes, in an attempt to solve the mystery. This is when we discovered that in the same way we push the floor downward to jump, the rocket push tons of gas to fly, the principle of action and reaction.

This explanation was followed by slides in which one of the first Japanese-made aircrafts was shown. As Prof. Maruyama told us, the professors of his professor were in charge of building it, making jets seem not difficult or something out of reach. Then he showed us some rockets launched by JAXA and mentioned that some of his own students were working in developing these rockets. What Prof. Maruyama was doing was to make the kids realize anything is possible and that they could become the engineers of the future!

I guess everything starts with a dream, and that is what I think Prof. Maruyama was trying to provide the kids with. Dreams and aspirations are not just important for the well-being and happiness of the individual, but also for the country and society as a whole. This is why I believed activities like this are crucial. I surely hope to be part of this event someday soon! Doing this kind of stuff with children is way too much fun.