A Wonder Boy, he truly is!

Lance, a 9- year old cute smart kid is currently enrolled in a private Catholic school in the heart of Manhattan. He just came from Singapore as his Mom’s work (an expat) requires her to transfer from one place to another. Just like normal kids, Lance loves to play any kind of games, from high tech stuffs to simple paper planes and rubber band games. He’s into some high end games as well, which I could say he’s an expert, including those which are found in his iPad, Nintendo 3Ds, plus his collections of pokemon cards. Don’t dare to pretend to know this card game and you’ll surely be corrected (no pun intended)!!!. He learned the game by heart including the characters and their respective position titles and powers. Once in a while, he chanced to show his prowess to his older play mates in board games, such as chess and checkers. Of course, he won most of the times, but there was a hidden secret behind it!  

(Note:  Photos below are exclusively for use of  www.myusefultips.com, hence not for reproduction and consumption of  anyone)

I had the chance to meet Lance through kins and I was amazed of the boy’s smartness and many talents. He’s not only well versed in kids’ games but more so in his academic subjects. When asked about his performance in school, particularly in Math and Science subjects, he confidently responded that he normally gets straight A’s. In fact, he proudly told the audience around that he can do his assignment in Science within five minutes. Ask me  what was the assignment all about? It was a memorization of about 10 or more terminologies, such as water vapor, precipitation, hail, sleet, and the like. The assignment was for the kids to memorize the definition of the said terms consisting not just 1 or 2 words but the full meaning of it. I was tempted to test his learning skills. After browsing the pages of his Science book and reading the definition of the words silently for about 5 minutes, he handed over  the book to me.  Acting like his teacher, I started asking him the definitions randomly, not using the sequence as written and arranged in the book. Surprisingly, he quoted the definitions most of the times verbatim, and others in his own words, but correctly defined. He’s good in Language too, particularly in Spelling.

The said experience was astonishing, which I said to myself, Wow! I had some encounters with kids in a middle school,  in their 4rth and 5th grades, and it’s frustrating to note that some, if not majority, of them couldn’t spell out and pronounce some words correctly. Kids in school are very good in conversational English, no doubt about it, but when it comes to lessons in class, some of them hardly catch up. Surely, there are various factors behind it, but since this is not about them, let’s leave it to the Language teachers and their parents to thresh it out.

Going back to Lance, there was one time he showed me a piece of paper with his writings on it. It was a short story and I thought it was a writing exercise in school. His Mom told me, it was his own composition to which he nodded. Apparently, he sometimes scribbles notes when he’s alone. I asked Lance’ permission if I could take a photo of it and publish the same in myusefultips.com blogsite. He looked at me with pure innocence and said, “Are you really going to publish it? as in everyone can see it?” When I said YES, I could see happiness on his face with some excitement and he was really  looking forward to seeing it posted,  so he could check it on his iPad. The short story was written on a  white bond paper with his own penmanship. Awesome!.

Absolutely, my  cam did not do justice to the story. I could have scanned it instead to have a better view. Unfortunately, the scanner just gave me headaches, so I had to plainly re-write it here for your sake. I would like to say my apologies to Lance as this post came later as expected.

Shown below is the full unedited script of the story: 

“The Revenge of the Lost Viking”

“Once upon a time a little boy discovered about a weird looking fossil. The little boy got it and bring it to the science center then the scientist told the boy it is about the lost viking. The scientist said the vikings have a war but one viking ran away so who claim that fossil the vikings will come to you and destroy your hometown said the scientist. The boy feel tricked and lied from the scientist so he took the fossil home then the vikings arrived to destroy his hometown. The boy realized that he make a mistake about the story of the lost viking. So he tried to ask the scientist what their weakness is. The scientist told the boy their weakness, it is killing them with your heart. The boy said, “how to do that”? The scientist said to the boy to apologize to people if you are mean to them. So the boy keep on apologizing to people quickly then the vikings are disappearing but one viking left. The boy realized something, to apologize he must apologize to everyone causing this big trouble. He apologized everyone for this trouble. There is no more vikings. The boy saved the day for the trouble he made. The boy said his name is Richard. So Richard return the fossil to where it supposed to be. Richard’s mother is proud so she tell the President to give him a reward.   The President give Richard a trophy. Richard is proud. His father was relaxed for Richard. Richard smile in tears. Richard and his family feel good about it. And everything is back to normal. And they live happily ever after. The End.”

Below is the photo of the story (clearer version), as written by Lance.

Bet you,  it’s uncommon for  a 9-year old kid to be able to write like this – the smart thought that comes from an innocent and unpolluted young mind, particularly the moral lesson behind the said story!

I would have wanted him to explain the said story on video but I felt it was no longer necessary. The story alone proved how the young boy thinks, and how profound the message of his story  to young boys and girls. 

May this blog article serve as motivation for parents to properly influence their children to reach their goals and as inspiration for young boys and girls and teens to focus, do good, and soar high in their studies. 

I just hope Lance will grow to be a loving and kindhearted person and for him to stay away from the lures and bad influencers, particularly in the internet world. Very good job Lance! Keep it up!

Update: Lance is now in college taking up IT’s cyber security degree course at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York.  Said university accepts students with a GPA of 3.7 (above average in their high school class, and that would mean an A- or a 90-92% grade). Lance took his High School at the Archbishop Molloy High School, a prestigious Catholic school in NYC. As expected he was one of those who earned the School’s President’s Education Awards Program for his Outstanding Academic Excellence getting a Silver Cord (a student who earned a four-year GPA of 95-98.99%) as recognition for his remarkable performance! Amazing!  Congratulations! MUTC is proud of you!  Raise the roof, Philippines!

Latest Update:

And guess what! He didn’t fail to deliver, as usual! He got straight A’s in the first batch of his freshman subjects, including Calculus and other basic disciplines in Mathematics and Information Technology , which made his Mom very happy! Hurray!