My daughter is amazing. If we were to give her an IQ test, I'm confident she would score exceedingly high. She may very well be the brightest student in her school. But she rarely receives recognition for her extraordinary gift, because she doesn't flaunt it. And quite honestly, her academic environment isn't one that provides her an opportunity to shine. Classroom efforts have to be focused on the mass majority of the kids. Not an individual, especially one that CAN keep up and work independently. I get that. She does too. I've considered other programs for her. But in the end, mainstream education wins out. When she's 25, she'll live and breathe and engage with the entire world. Not just an elite small group of intellectually advanced kids. It's one of the reasons we love living here - the tremendous diversity of it. But the cost is sometimes her hard work and talents are forgotten.
It's never more apparent than when she plays sports. She's tiny. She has to work twice as hard as other girls. She has to absolutely work on technique as opposed to brute strength. And even when she does - when she practices AND THEN SHE PERFORMS - she STILL gets ignored. She never screams for attention. The coaches don't worry that she isn't trying. And because of that, they usually forget to reward her after the effort. Emily doesn't need giant trophies. She needs a pat on the back. She deserves a little praise. But because she consistently tries so hard, it's very easy to take her for granted.
I have two daughters. They are both smart and hard-working. Their motivations are so different. For one, it's about personal achievement. For Emily, it's about pleasing every one else: her coach, her parents, her teammates. I wish sometimes her coaches and her teachers would remember that.
