Starting from a very young age Luke Knight had an unquenchable thirst to figure things out. He explored nature, took things apart, put things back together, survived minor explosions from his experimentation, and generally pursued knowing how things work or happen. Though not everyone appreciated his inquisitive nature, he had enough encouragement over the years to nurture his desire to discover. It did have an adverse affect on his social skills, but he managed. Luke’s science fair projects never failed to please and astound. Upon entering secondary school he had very ambitious goals that he intended to keep secret until he had perfected them one by one. He was closing in on the finish of one such goal and, when he finally completed it, he wanted to amaze everyone. The beginning of his second year brought him to one of the very breakthroughs he had worked toward.
Mrs Lisa Cuttingham listened as her star student begged, giving numerous reasons. “Mrs. Cuttingham,” Luke had started, “I would like your permission and help to present something at the symposium.” Luke knew he was asking a lot. The Regulatory Science and Communication Symposium was not for school students. Plus, he would be putting his teacher’s reputation on the line as well as his own. What made his request even more difficult to justify was the fact he hadn’t revealed any of the details of his experiment to her. Knowing Luke many times preferred working in secret, she hadn’t pried into his recent efforts. “I’ll see what I can do.” she answered. Luke grinned in reply thanking his teacher as he hurried off home.