AM I A SMART KID ?

♥

Hey Zengarmy, 



Have you ever heard of "The Power of Yet" ?
NO ? Me either. I never heard of it until TODAY.
Today is the second day of my first week in university,
and not gonna lie, I'm beginning to feel anxious already :(
I had a packed-to-brim schedule today, and unfortunately,
my classes are ALL located in different blocks in the campus !!!!!!
( aka me running from blocks to blocks panting for breaths. )



My schedule for today commence with the English for Psychology class, and I was like :
"YAY! I'm a blogger, nothing bad should ever happen to me in this class!"
But turns out, everything that could possibly go wrong, goes wrong in this class today.
The first tragedy happened when I got called up to introduce myself to the whole class.
Well, actually ALL of the students need to do this. When the lecturer calls our name,
we had to stand up & tell everybody why we choose Psychology as our major.
And when I was called up, guess what? My throat decided to throw a tantrum,
and of course that results in me speaking like a HORSE involuntarily!



I felt super paiseh (embarrassed) but since I can't do anything
to calm my awkward hoarse voice down, I decided to continue speaking :
"Hi, I'm Zeng Teck. I'm previously from A-Levels, and I choose Psychology
because I suffer from anxiety & I want to help those who suffer from anxiety too."
The lecturer nodded & gave me a warm glance. And then she spoke something,
which I didn't listen to, because I noticed a guy sitting a few seats away from me
staring at me with a scornful glance. Apparently, anxiety is still attached to social stigma :(
I felt a little bit disappointed. But I'm still glad that I told everybody the truth.



Shortly after tragedy one, tragedy two happens.
The lecturer decided to give an impromptu test!
Yes you didn't hear it wrong, test on the first day of class!
I totally freaked out. But luckily I'm still able to compose myself.
I think I did okay. But not for the 250-words-essay. I totally screwed it up hahaha.



Fast-forward to my last class : Principle of Marketing,
something really amazing happened, and I'll call it the "Glass Slipper Moment",
where Cinderella's glass slipper reunited her and the Prince Charming, and where
good things finally occur after bad moments. (according to the novel Girl Online)
The lecturer showed all of us a video from a TED speaker named Carol S. Dweck,
and that, ladies and gentlemen, is what inspired me to write this blog post today.



Today, we talk about "The Power of Yet".

Am I a smart kid ? No. I'm not.
I'm not a smart kid, I'm not an average kid.
I'm not a stupid kid. I'm a GROWING kid.
A growing kid full of NOT YET :)



I totally agreed with Professor Dweck that the society nowadays are raising kids
who are obsessed with getting A's, who don't know how to dream big dreams,
whose biggest goal is getting the next A on the next test score, and who are
carrying the need for constant validation with them into their future lives.



"We have already raised a generation of young workers
who can't get through the day without an award."



I can relate so much to what she said.
Selective praising of ONLY intelligence and talents, has failed.
In other words, constantly praising a kid that he/she is smart, is not a good practice.
It produces kids who quit easily & who can't afford to face errors & difficulties
because they're afraid they might fail and people would tell them that they are not smart.
Instead, effort, strategies, focus, perseverance & improvement should be praised!
This, in turn, produces kids who are hardy and resilient,
who never give up easily, because they see every failure as
a chance to develop growth!



I'm so thankful that I chose Psychology because
this is really what I wanted to do apart from music ——
TO HELP & INSPIRE PEOPLE TO BE THEIR OWN BEST VERSION!
And if you're reading this and you don't know what you're looking for,
don't be worry! It's okay if your plans change! It's not the end of the world!
I used to be depressed & think that I'm getting nowhere
because I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANT IN MY LIFE.
But the truth is, you don't really know what God has in store for you!
That's what makes life so wonderful and exciting!



"Every hardship that you're going
through right now, is what's going
to make your success a sweet story."

♥