Let the countdown – or count out? – begin. One of my favorite days of the year occurs every March 14. Happy eve of the eve of the eve of the eve of π Day, everyone. Be sure to set your watches on Tuesday for 1:59 if you want to celebrate the pi-est moment of the year. You will be 3.14159 toward infinity.
Pi is the constant equal to the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Found by Archimedes, the number has been calculated to more than one trillion digits behind the decimal point and continues infinitely without repetition or pattern. Given this, you’ll be amazed at SMA students who have joined the pi number challenge. That’s the theory of positivity at work!
My never-ending fascination with pi is no secret; I get beyond excited for this day for the infinite possibilities it represents. Last week I wrote about change and the opportunities it affords us. Factor in the infinite possibilities that pi represents, and we can really think big. Powerful ideas come from new perspectives, from a sense of wonder, and from a wandering mind that is fertilized with far-ranging fields of study.
Albert Einstein, who happens to share a birthday with π Day, was a proponent of combinatory play – taking seemingly unrelated things and blending them together to come up with new ideas. The interdisciplinary studies at SMA foster this kind of thinking, which is often visual. We can be grateful that art and design figure strongly into our program. And not to overlook music: Einstein often took music breaks and found it indispensable to his life.
St. Mary’s Academy is a fertile environment for idea generation, by our students, faculty, staff, and families. I am indebted to our community for the thoughts you are sharing that are helping to fuel my visioning process for our future. On π Day, let our minds wander, visualize the possibilities, and have some celebratory pie. And turn up the music!