After the disaster of Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH370, many countries have taken part in searching for the black box.

    One day, my father and I discussed a plan to improve black boxes so they could be found more easily and quickly in the future. He wanted to send our ideas to the Boeing company. I refused when my father proposed this plan to me, because I thought many people must propose their designs only to be ignored.

    After hearing my concerns, my father smiled and said, “Do you know who invented windshield wipers? It was a woman who saw a man washing his car and suddenly she came up with this great idea. It’s a simple idea, but if you follow thorough, it might be a marvelous idea.”

    With his encouragement, I worked out my design, looked for the email addresses of Boeing’s engineers and sent them my ideas. It was the first time I sent a suggestion to such a big company. I was both nervous and excited.

    I received an automatic email first. It said the person in charge was on a business trip for two weeks. I waited for those two weeks to end anxiously.

    One Wednesday afternoon, I checked my email and saw that I had received a reply. It said: “Boeing receives many unsolicited ideas each year about how to improve our products and services. We are encouraged by this enthusiasm because it tells us that people around the world want to be better connected and protected. Like many large companies, however, we do not accept unsolicited ideas. Experience has shown that most ideas have already been considered by our engineers and that there can be unintended consequences to simply accepting these ideas. The time, cost and risk involved in processing them, therefore, were not justified by the benefits gained. So while we appreciate your interest, we regret to inform you that we have disposed of your message and retained no copies.”

    I read it carefully so I would remember every word. Although they dismissed my idea, I could feel the politeness and responsibility of the writer. He or she encouraged me never to stop creating new things.

    I wouldn’t have even tried if it were not for my father.