How Small Questions Blow Up

By Grace Moon

One simple question can take you a long way. It can even steer your career preference for the next fifty years. Here’s how.

Imagine yourself sitting down next to Johannes Vermeer as he paints a fresh stroke of bright ultramarine blue onto his canvas for the first time. Why is it that he’s never had the chance to use blue before this?

It’s because for the most part, looking back in history, color came from the earth, which meant that different geographical regions had different colors to offer. The blue I told you about was actually from a gemstone called lapis lazuli, and Vermeer probably got his small share of the expensive treasure all the way from Afghanistan -- a perfect story of how movement of culture was more than just ideas or trinkets, but whole new experiences.

But with OLED displays and CMYK cartridges, we don’t see instances like this anymore--it’s nearly impossible to come across unfamiliar colors today, in spite of the fact that just a few hundred years back, our ancestors had never seen electric purple or cantaloupe orange. This small realization sparked in me a curiosity of humanity’s interaction with the concept and usage of color. More specifically, the story of pigments and the discovery, purpose, and movement over time.

And this is where I am today. As of now, I’ve completed a 12-piece collection of infographics of unique stories that various historical pigments carry. From the story of Scheele’s Green, a toxic pigment that possibly caused the death of Napoleon Bonaparte, or Red Cochineal, the bright pink “bug powder” that dyes Sour Skittles, I wanted to recognize and celebrate not just different colors’ typical function in Western symbolism today (such as red being a color of love), but their origin and relevance to humanity due to their social and scientific implications.

By no means am I writing this to brag or boast about my accomplishment. Rather, I’m here to ask you to find your own “stories of pigments.” It is true that the fashionable word ‘global’ from twenty years ago is a reality today. And although we can now be proud of participating in a bigger picture, it’s crystal clear that us high schoolers have a significantly harder time finding incentives to dig deeper into pretty much any topic out there. Especially in as diverse a community as Dalat (that often offers variety in activities but not a depth in many), that can be an even harder thing to do.

All this to say, I hope my story of how a small inquiry blew up into a passion--that also developed into a potential career--drives you to really take this as a goal of yours as well. As senior Joseph Chandra once said, “There’s really nothing to lose by doing this as a student now: you can use this small question to start off your English 12 Capstone research, to write your future college application essays on, and maybe one day, make your Asian parents proud.”