The Wisconsin Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series Committee invited Discovery Channel’s MythBusters host Kari Byron to speak before an audience of curious students, staff and the public April 24. In her lecture “Curiosity Unlocked: An Evening With Kari Byron,” Bryon covered lessons learned and experiences lived as a “Crash Test Girl” — bravery being one of the most memorable.
“After years on MythBusters, I began to think of being brave, curiosity and experimenting a core part of my identity — it’s my superpower,” Byron said.
Bryon recounted the many “crazy adventures” she had as a Crash Test Girl on MythBusters, which range from eating live bugs to setting off hundreds of pounds of explosives. Other adventures Byron said she had included diving with sharks at night and lying in a glass coffin with scorpions — all in the name of science.
What these exciting and more often than not dangerous adventures all had in common was requiring a combination of curiosity and bravery, Bryon said. It required doing something she didn’t know how to do, or if she even could do it.
“Being brave is all about being scared first,” Byron said. “Being brave is part of being curious. If I’m a little scared, that means I’m doing something right.”
Byron began as an intern behind the scenes of MythBusters, which wasn’t her original destination. She was aiming to be a “starving artist,” a sculptor, starting as a “Picasso in the closet” on the MythBusters set. But MythBusters ended up being everything she knew, and she progressed from intern behind the scenes, to a builder behind the scenes, to someone who talked behind the scenes and finally to a presenter on the show.
Through MythBusters, Byron said she found her passion in digital storytelling and science, technology, engineering and math advocacy for children. So, after her time with MythBusters ended — because all good things must come to an end — Byron created “Crash Test World” and expanded what is now the National STEM Festival.
“That’s my new dream, and I want to continue doing this,” Byron said. “The National STEM Festival has become more to me than just the digital conversation, just that moment in time at the White House.”
Though MythBusters was originally just a detour on Byron’s journey to her final destination, it became her whole word. Her bravery took her to having conversations at the White House with politicians and secretaries and becoming a STEM advocate for children worldwide.
Byron hopes her story of bravery and the National STEM Festival continues to inspire other kids, young girls and children of color to find bravery within themselves and opens doors for them just as MythBusters opened doors for her.
Byron’s lecture is part of WUD’s “Making It Happen” series. View the schedule of events from now until April 30 here.
