Fish Climbing Trees

Growing up in a middle class home was always fun, our holidays consisted of going to a different town, close by, and staying with other family members, we would "adopt" different animals, mostly those which were cheap to buy or if they came walking into our home. We have had rabbits, cats, birds, hamsters and now goldfish. It was almost like going to school, you meet different people who love different things and you learn to love them for who they are.

But then you learn that some people are not as nice as they seem, you get bullied and sometimes you become the bully. You get best friends and fake ones and as soon as you're done with school, you learn that it was all just a phase, but that phase stays with you for the rest of your life and sometimes it begins to haunt you and then you write articles like this...

I was a a good student, I got average grades and had many "friends". But the one subject which made my life miserable was MATH! I hated it, it was difficult to understand and the only way for me to pass was through tutoring. But that was also when I learnt that you cannot be good at everything, there is always something that you will fail at. A very close person, my brother, was unable to do well at reading and writing, but he was great at science and today he's studying to be an engineer.

One of my classmates was an "A" student, great marks in everything, especially math. In fact she was the top student of our grade, but here's the thing, she was really bad at art. For a student who only excelled at everything, it was a hard pill to swallow when she got average to poor marks in art. But the best part, for her at least, was that our school did not pay attention to artistic students, they did not give learners the time to express themselves through their creativity. Our school only wanted to excel in subjects which would raise the school's reputation as "the best".

The point I am trying to make is that, many kids are bad at math, some are bad at science or even art, many find it difficult to read and write. But it's not their fault, we are all not programmed the same, we have our flaws and things that we will not be good at, so instead of showing disappointment in your child for not being good at a subject, rather help them understand it, support them and show them that it's okay. Concentrate on their strengths and what they are good at.

School's need to assist students and help them with subjects which they are not doing well in. Life is not always about math and science, nor is it always about arts and creativity, it is about doing what you love and what you're good at.

Fish cannot climb trees but elephants can't live in water either...