The Davis Family Light Show--Devin

Imagine a small one story home covered in thousands of small LED bulbs, creating every color

imaginable, displaying colorful patterns, showcasing magical scenes shining like the aurora

borealis, and having it all programmed to your favorite songs and classic holiday tunes. That is

my house that my family and I have been doing for Christmas and Halloween for over the past 7

years. The bright smiles and cheer I am able to bring to my community is the reason I am

passionate in the work I do. My years of computer programming to create this one of a kind

show has changed my appreciation of creativity in work and achieving inspiring results on all

artistic and non-artistic projects.

At the age of 10, I pleaded to my dad to have this “Christmas light show” that I found off

Youtube. He came to the agreement only if I was willing to put in the work, including

constructing large illuminating props, stringing lights from the front yard to the roof, programming

colorful arrangements for the lights to dance with the music, and hotwiring two millimeter copper

cables. My ambitious 10-year-old self took on this challenge, and my computer programming

skills evolved from there. Thereafter, I strived to learn more about application programming. I

began to watch countless videos on technology, including the control systems of robots, artificial

intelligence, and coding activities all throughout middle school. I also taught myself the

fundamentals of coding with the aid of online tools such as the Khan Academy. I enrolled in a

Robotics class in high school where I was able to take a deeper dive into computer science. The

rewarding feeling I felt after completing a successful code pushed me to learn more about

technology.

A main part of this light show experience includes the unique illuminating props that me and my

dad custom made. We bought 5 ft tomato planters, tied the tops together to create the shape of

a cone, and wrapped multi-color LED light bulbs, evenly spaced, from the bottom to the top of

the planter creating a one of a kind illuminating mini Christmas tree. Another prop includes our 3

dimensional human sized candy canes created out of corrugated plastic cardboard that is very

malleable and a great light diffuser. We also have what we call our "garage net," imagine a 22 x

100 grid with an LED light bulb that can generate any color in between each grid. Now extend

the imaginary grid over a garage, and you have our "garage net," which is basically a TV on a

garage.The Cherry on top of the light show is the custom made 15 ft tall mega tree. With a

towering metal Christmas tree shaped frame and 12 long light strips connected to pvc pipes that

we attached to the framework, the spectacular lighting display is created. Not much is more

satisfying than seeing your designs illuminate and accomplish the glow that brings a smile on

somebody's face.

One of my greatest accomplishments has been getting a job with a company specializing in light

show installations and custom programming. My job is to program music to the lighting displays

and troubleshoot any defective strings of lights or props at different venues. Development,

innovation, and problem solving is the part of my job that inspires me. The more challenging the

task is, the more I am motivated and driven to solve it. In creating experiences for others to

enjoy, this work helped discover my calling.

This entire experience, from beginning a light show to learning to program and finding a career

that requires something I enjoy doing, has taught me one thing: patience. Being patient is

something that everybody despises. Who, after all, loves waiting for anything? I dislike standing

in line to ride The Haunted Mansion, my shipment takes too long to arrive, and waiting for

college acceptances makes me want to vomit. But I've discovered that being patient also results

in excellent results. There would be no light show if I hadn't spent hours trying to learn a

computer program in which I had no experience. There would be no interactiveness in the show

if my father and I didn't draw hundreds of blueprints for how to create a particular prop. Patience

has not only culminated in the light show that my family and I have put on today, but it has also

gotten me through some of my most difficult times.

Stringing normal Christmas lights from corner to corner of the roof and placing a grinch light up

inflatable would be simple to do to put a smile on someone's face. But creating an experience,

with my love of computer programming and art, helped me to not only bring happiness to others

but inspire younger and older generations on how much a little hard work and creativity can do.

Although these unforgettable experiences have not been easy, I am able to continue with my

passion through persistence and curiosity. I do sometimes think about how my love of computer

programming all began with a 10-year-olds dream of doing something special with his Christmas

lights.