I saw the statement below posted online somewhere recently and I realized just how profound it really is.
When I got the message from Bridgette about Luci's accomplishment, I mentioned it to my son, Bryan, who I was visiting with at the time. We had a brief conversation about how he also felt blessed that academics and learning had always seemed to come pretty easy for his two children and that, so far, they tend to work hard to do better.
I got pictures and a message from our daughter this week that her youngest was inducted into the BETA club this week. Boy, were we all proud of her! Luci has always been a smart little cookie. Of course, she has two older sisters who have always been there to teach her things - good and bad, I guess. But, she is one who seems to be a lucky girl and most things tend to come pretty easy for her and then, if she really is interested, she tries hard and becomes better.
Before writing this post, I looked up the eligibility requirements for becoming an BETA Club inductee. Their website states:
The criterion for membership is decided by the individual club. Our national constitution states: The qualifications for membership on the part of the student shall be: (a) worthy, moral and ethical character; (b) exemplary achievement, and (c) commendable attitude. All students must be performing at or above grade level in order to be eligible for membership. Local clubs can require additional criteria.
When I got the message from Bridgette about Luci's accomplishment, I mentioned it to my son, Bryan, who I was visiting with at the time. We had a brief conversation about how he also felt blessed that academics and learning had always seemed to come pretty easy for his two children and that, so far, they tend to work hard to do better.
All three of the girls in Luci's family have been members of their school BETA Club and I know that their parents are proud. I know that it really means a great deal to their mother because she is Dyslexic and always struggled with academic achievement as a young girl. Maybe it was all that was so new to her that was coming at her or maybe it was just that she needed to learn how to learn in a different way but school was just hard for her at first. She made pretty good grades in school but, trust me, it was hard work and quite an accomplishment. So, she has said many times how blessed she feels that her girls do not have those same hurdles that she had as a young girl.
I think she did well once she reached college and most academic things seemed to come pretty easy by that point and she would work to do her best but I recall many a night when we were working on academic assignments till the late hours and there were loads of tears at times as well. She would be working and I would be supporting her with questions and suggestions to help her complete assignments. Yet, the social aspects of school came easy and she really turned out to be a leader and was even elected president of her senior class. So, obviously, like the BETA Club eligibility requirements, grades are not all that is important and all that should be taken into consideration when thinking about a person as smart.
I recently had lunch with a beautiful friend and we were reminiscing about our school days. At one point in her life, she and some of her siblings even lived "at the home" in Nashville which started as a orphanage and later became a place where struggling families' children could live on a temporary basis until they could get back on their feet. She told me that she came up in a poor household and when her family was all together, they lived in a less affluent section of Nashville at one time and went to school with other children who were less affluent as well. Most of the time, she and her siblings walked to the local school. Then, equity in education came to the forefront and she remembers riding a bus across town to school and how her clothes were different from many of the other children and that some of the other children picked at her and made fun of her. Yet, she worked hard and did the best that she could. Then, after completing school, she went to work. When her children came along, she said she felt like she didn't know as much as she should and she was determined that her children were going to have "more education" than she did. So, she worked hard to be able to support them and they worked hard in school and earned scholarships and both earned secondary degrees.
Of course, as I sat across the table from this beautiful blue-eyed, strikingly attractive woman who had retired after owning and selling a very successful business, my thoughts during the conversation ran back to that first statement in this post - You know what lasts longer than beauty? Being smart. Here I was with a woman who is truly beautiful in numerous ways. She literally turns heads when she walks into a room. Yet, she also is someone who is considerate of others and has strong religious faith and contributes in a positive way to the community and dedicates herself to being kind to others all while sharing her bright and beautiful smile. She started her own business and managed employees and supported the community by giving back to different organizations and worthy causes. She sold that business when she reached retirement age and realized a profit and continued to support the community even after selling the business. She is always a bright and sunny personality whenever I see her and lights up the room with her happiness. Yet, she basically sat there and told me that she didn't consider herself as smart.
We talked about how as kids when we struggled with something in school we would look at the other children and wonder how it was that their brain worked so differently from ours. She talked about determination and tenacity and gratefulness as she worked her way through adulthood. Yet, even sitting there at that moment, she had a hard time admitting that she really is smart. She did finally admit, however, that she thought she had finally found her calling when she opened her own business and acknowledged that she was quite successful as a business woman.
I have little doubt that my friend, Frances, will be quite a beauty until the day she dies and will always be thought of by others as beautiful because she truly is - inside and out. I'd be willing to bet that almost anybody who has known her will also always think of her as smart.
I know that I've rambled here a bit but in today's world, I often get frustrated with folks who talk about our failing educational system and focus on what is wrong and what somebody else needs to do to fix things. I think too many of these naysayers don't realize that every single person is blessed in some way and as a society, we just need to work together to figure out those blessings and help them recognize them and encourage them and support them till they "find their calling" and meet success and realize just how smart they are.
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