Yeona was a differently behaved girl. She would not trouble her teachers and classmates but her teachers would get disturbed by her behaviour.
She never talked in class but would make others to reply to her.
,”Pencil”.
“No, I don’t have”.
“Give”, she would insist.
Her classmates would get annoyed by her bickering.
In the middle of explanation, she would get up of her place without permission from the teacher and would go to sharpen her pencil or to just throw a piece of paper in the dustbin.
This would disturb the whole class and interrupt the flow of teacher’s explanation.”What do you want?”,when asked she would silently show the piece of paper in her hand.
Even on not being permitted she would carry on with what she was doing. She lived in her own world. She did not have anyone as her friend.
She was considered the most misbehaved and unteachable student. It was painful to watch and we had to stand out of her way. Because she is an individual who can make her own decisions.
It was this day that her English teacher decided to give her a task. She asked Yeona that she has to read out Today’s thought at the school assembly the next day.
As expected, Yeona did not respond. But her English teacher was determined. She had confidence that Yeona would take up responsibility and she would successfully complete the assigned task.
After the morning prayer at the assembly, the English teacher on Mic “Today’s thought is by Yeona of grade 5 “, she turned back to see Yeona, with her head low, standing with a piece of paper.
The English teacher smiled and holding her shoulders brought her towards the Mic.
Yeona adjusted the mic on to her height and “A disciplined life is built by consistently performing small acts of kindness”,she paused and continued ” I repeat – A disciplined life is built by consistently performing small acts of kindness”.
Saying so she immediately turned back and left the stage for further announcements for the assembly. Her hands were shaking but her voice did not. She felt lonely as she headed towards her class.
When in class, her class teacher looked towards her, gave a mild smile” You were good Yeona”, gave a boost of confidence in Yeona.
For the rest of the day, as the teachers came in for the class, “You were excellent Yeona. Keep it up”, “Well done Yeona, though it was unexpected”, were few of the compliments Yeona recieved.
She could make out the importance of speaking up, importance of valuing others as she felt being loved and valued today.
Valuing others is seeing the difference positively. It means trying to understand how others think and feel, and knowing that this helps you as well as them.
P.S.
- Images are only for reference.
- Credit to the right owner.