Better

A third grade Junior High School girl came home from school enthusiastically. She brought a pretest score for her final national exam. She got top five score among all of the students. She was so satisfied. It was her highest rank ever from several pretest exam.

At home, she showed her score to her father and showed the list of rank score in her school. "Look! I got fifth rank! I never achieve this before," the girl said to her father. She felt like she just achieved something remarkable.

"Then who are the top four?" her father asked. The girl then pointed to the score list and mentioned her schoolmates. "It means there are still four students better than you," said the father without any little smile.

Wait, what? It was not what the girl wanted to hear from her father. Instead of appreciating her for getting a better score, he just said that there were students better that her.

She cried. She felt so hurt by what her father just said. She already did her best for the exam pretest so she could achieve a better score, but her father did not appreciate it anyway. 

But then she studied again and prepared for the real final exam. She did not expect much. Her score in pretest was enough to make her confident to face the real final exam. 

When the final exam result was released, the girl was shocked to know that her score was the highest among all of the students. She could not believe that the real score was more than what she had expected. This was her first rank ever since she went to school. Even got a top five was her precious achievement.

And when the father found his daughter finally got the first rank, he gave his smile to her. And that's enough for the girl to realize that what her father said at that time actually built a special strength and motivation to her unconsciously. And it worked.

It could not be inferred that it was a good way in motivating child, anyway. Some fathers probably have another ways and it works too. It was not about what kind of way that work well, but what kind of way that suitable to the character of the child. It was all about how well the parents know their child.

The girl realized that the lesson that her father just taught her was about being not too much in any kind of situation. We don't need to be proud too much when we achieve something, and also not to desperate too much when we regret something.

@kusdwilestarin