I was invited to an ex-student's scholarship presentation ceremony last week. She is going to be reading her Fine Arts degree at the prestigious Goldsmith College in London, Alma mater to many world renowned artists. I am really happy and proud of her achievement, and I am sure the oversea experience in a place packed with the most creative people in the world will deeply enrich her perspective of the art world.
I took the opportunity to have a chat with her parents over tea reception and found out from her mother that the artistic trait in her started when she was very young, where she would enjoy assembling and creating things from home. She is very fortunate to have a supportive mother who had identified and supported her creative talents from a tender age, encouraging her to choose her path based on her inherent strengths, and not be burdened with the 'practical' aspects of life and playing everything 'safe'.
Talent is important but it is already there, something which we just have to take time to acknowledge and affirm. Something which is more important than talent is decision. The ability and courage to act upon an idea, rooted in a clear belief in what it means.
As Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, shared in a commencement speech in Princeton recently, it is us who will have to answer the quiet voice in our heads when we are late in our lives, about what we have done with the time that was given to us. That our lives are essentially a collection of decisions we have chosen to make.
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1 comment:
These are the rewarding moments in teaching: seeing our pupils take the path that will allow them to make a difference in more lives. This is ultimate fulfillment for teachers and humans: to know that we have a part to play in make a difference to more than one live.
You put it rightly that talent is not sufficient; we courage to make the right decisions, especially those that are most difficult and less popular.
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