Editor’s Note: The students of the ROGATE gifted program at Woodrow Wilson School in Union City have been publishing their essays in this newspaper as part of an assignment. Their views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
R.O.G.A.T.E is not a program, but it’s an experience. R.O.G.A.T.E, Resources Offered in Gifted and Talented Education, is a program in which seventh and eighth graders have the opportunity to take the SATs and complete an independent research project. R.O.G.A.T.E is not as easy as it sounds, and it’s definitely a journey you need a lot of motivation to get through. Last year, as a Toward Satori candidate, I took the SATs and prepared a presentation for my independent research project that would be present at Montclair State University. My hypothesis stated that lefties were more creative than righties.
I took a survey in my school that asked several questions, and I read books and Internet articles based on my hypothesis. The hardest part was finding a person that would give me a legitimate interview based on my hypothesis. Ultimately, I interviewed two renowned doctors, Dr. Nirman and Dr. Houseplan.
My survey baffled me because the results did not have a specific pattern. My Internet and book resources helped me gather that left-handed individuals are indeed more creative than right handed individuals. The reason for this is because of cross dominance. Cross dominance is the theory that lefties use the right side of their brain more often than the left and vice versa. The right side of the brain contains creativity, artistic thinking, and intuition while the left side contains math and science functions, as well as speech and logic.
My interviews threw me off completely because not only did the doctors have two different points but also they did agree with my books and Internet articles.
After much thought and plenty of research, I concluded that my hypothesis, left handed individuals are more creative than right-handed individuals, was inconclusive. However, they do have the tendency to be more creative. Look at all the incredible lefties to have walked the Earth. Just to name a few, Charlie Chaplin, Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg, Lady Gaga, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci, Babe Ruth, and Lewis Carroll.