Among the hundreds of diverse clubs at Carlmont, the Odyssey of the Mind Club shines through their involvement in creativity competitions and their passion to embrace students’ oddities.
Club President Jaime Young and Vice President Garrett Maslyar, both freshmen, have been members of the Odyssey of the Mind team for over eight years and decided to create a club for the team at Carlmont in 2017.
“Our team has been competing in creativity competitions since the third grade,” said Maslyar. “We decided to make a club for our team in order to have more time to practice before we compete and to provide a space where students can unleash their creativity through spontaneous scenarios.”
The Odyssey of the Mind team participates in competitions where the contestants receive five spontaneous prompts and are expected to answer them in unique ways, such as creating skits or props.
For example, one question asked the teams to create a skit with no verbal communication, meaning they must act out a storyline without any actual speaking.
“This prompt was difficult, but we found a loophole. We decided to create a phone prop and project the words of our skit onto the phone,” Young said. “The prop took us several weeks to build, but the judges loved it as it was made completely from scratch.”
The Odyssey of the Mind competitions consist of three divisions: local, state, and national level. Carlmont will be hosting this year’s local competition on March 3. The winning team of this local competition will then compete at the state level, determining who later advances to nationals.
“Our team places extremely well at these competitions. We often place first in locals and we almost always place well in states,” Young said. “We made it to the world competition about two years ago and placed in the top 25 percent. It was really cool to meet people from all over the world that share the same passion for creativity as me.”
The team currently has six active members and is hoping to recruit more students interested in unleashing their creativity.
Freshman Rory McGann said, “I wanted to be a part of this club because I absolutely love using my imagination and problem-solving. This club provides me with a creative outlet and a space to express myself. I also have found friends that are just as creative as me, and I encourage anyone to check out our club.”
To get involved in Odyssey of the Mind Club, attend one of their lunch meetings held every other Tuesday in room B3.
