Nigel 

11 years old

 

“He has more brawn than brains,” is the best words to describe my son. Position as the third child in the family, he is the best athlete, but has the worst academic performance. For some reason, he just could not study well. Sitting quietly in class is the most brutal torture he had to endure. Frequently falling asleep in class, it was just before long that teachers also gave up on him. After suffering from repeated defeats in exams, Nigel had invented a set of defense system to protect his pride: “I am going to be a famous badminton player one day, I do not need good grades.” To others, he may sound arrogant and self-centered, however, for me, the words implicated he had given up. All the setbacks he faced in life had brought huge impact to his confident, causing him to lose faith in his ability and himself.

 

Beneath the surface of the arrogance appearance, deep inside, he is in fact a very clever boy with strong curiosity, passionate in exploring new knowledge. You can tell that by just looking at the excitement he displayed in learning about badminton. Still, all these efforts can go to waste when your son is one of the people who had brief period of enthusiasm. Before long, Nigel will abandon the hard earned accomplishment to search for another more exciting target, using words like “I already knew how to do this (when he clearly don’t, he just gotten bored with it)” or “I don’t want to do this anymore (whenever he met obstacle that require effort to solve)”. Rarely making any attempt to do his best, my second son who do nothing at halves just made me extremely concerned about his future.

 

When signing Nigel up for Brain Activation, his disdain was obvious. A near egotist like him disregarded the importance of self-improvement. What is the use of good grades for a successful badminton athlete like me? Still, even the great Nigel is unable to deny the changes generate from brain training. In school, the lessons starting to make sense and appear to become less boring. With improvement in understanding, come along the ability to concentrate longer. He begins to enjoy listening to the teachers’ stories on the subjects, constantly craving for further input. Once Nigel manages to alter his learning attitude, then it is just a matter of time before his examination results progress as well (all subjects improve around 20 marks). There is also noticeable increasing of quality in badminton’s performance. Above all things, Nigel finds there is no longer need to seal himself in his defensive layer anymore. He is willing to put effort in being a considerate and helpful person. On every occasion where his hard work was recognized and complimented, Nigel simply could not hold back his embarrassed grin, yet feeling thrill and contempt at the same time. At such moment, I am so proud of Nigel. At last, the champion had figured out, there is always more to life. To really become an excellent shutter, being knowledgeable and possess good character are crucial elements too!