Dezell Turner of Des Moines' Central Academy used his skills on the Etch A Sketch to create a five-minute video outlining the history of calculus, which helped him gain admission to Caltech and MIT. 

For my MIT application. One unique thing about me is I love spending hours making Etch-A-Sketch drawings. It requires patience, and the mechanics initially takes some getting used to, but after some practice, it became almost as easy as using a pencil. I made this video for my AP Calculus AB class chronicling the history of calculus back before Newton and Leibniz to its Archimedean roots, except all of the visuals were time-lapses of my Etch-A-Sketch drawings. I drew Newton, Leibniz, and Archimedes, along with geometric examples of some of their proofs. It took a couple weeks to make, but it was well worth it.

David Dezell Turner '22