Achievements

First place!

She won first place!!!

My daughter won first place in the Science contest she was in yesterday. When they broke the news yesterday, I was dumbfounded! Speechless for a few seconds. Absolutely surprised the next. I just couldn't believe it! She bested all the other participants from their grade level, she is currently a Grade IV. She proudly showed me her ribbon with a wide grin and told me all about it. In no time I was off sending messages to almost everyone that mattered, Mr. Right, my mother, my sisters, my cousin, my niece, my friends The Cherubim and The Model, everyone! We were so proud of her. Not that I am belittling her abilities, it is just so unexpected. She has not always been an achiever academically but you see she was more into the arts like dancing, singing and play acting. It was already a relief for me when I found out that she was already starting to participate in academic contests, it already made me proud, but winning the top spot? It was too much to handle. I was so happy!

The Tutor was literally shocked, she kept on asking my little one the questions that were asked and how she answered them. The Tutor was beaming, she knew she did a great job! I commended her for this. I felt that at one point she was feeling guilty because she was not able to coach my son for his Math contest as much as she did my daughter. So I told her that I am sure my son likewise did his best but then again Math for his grade level (Grade V) is really hard and the competition was probably tough. Then my son pointed out that he finished fourth amongst the contestants and I said, "Not bad!" He could always try to do better next quarter for as long as he continues to enjoy these sort of activities. My daughter on the other hand suddenly had a surge of inspiration to do better academically. She has proven that she could do well and she is just to happy to keep up the good work. At least now she has outgrown her penchant for always hating to study or review, she now thinks that she must study harder. Come finals, she will be competing again with all the rest of the winners, she's raring to start to get ready for it!

I never push my children. Of course I would love for them to excel at everything but I just ask them to do their best and keep on passing their exams. To me it does not matter if they end up getting awards and citations, the important thing is that they learn their lessons well and they truly understand the things that they are studying about. I do not want to force them to get into activities which are not really in their line of interests. I believe that children should be given the chance to explore on their own with proper guidance. I want my children to achieve their dreams in their own terms and on their own time.

I am so proud! My children are beginning to put themselves on the spotlight. No pushing, no resentments. They are having fun, they are enjoying what they are doing, slowly garnering achievements to be proud of. I am just so proud...