Managing Expectations

Just a few days before the September holidays, Ashley brought back a piece of paper which she excitedly asked me to look. I glanced at the paper and the subject was K2 Graduation Speech. It is a lengthy speech comprising a full A4 paper. Ashley said she was told to practise this during the holidays.

Immediately, I have images of me witnessing several kindergarten and primary concerts, both for Jarod and Ashley. I always looked in awe at the speakers, wondering how a child at those tender age can demonstrate such confidence as they spoke to a  hall filled with audience. I can imagine myself beaming with pride and joy at the prospect of my baby standing on stage, delivering the graduation speech.

Before I get myself carried away, I clarified with her teacher on this matter. Her teacher explained that at this point in time, there is no need for Ashley to memorise the speech as the principal will audition them at a later date to choose the speaker. There were 2 shortlisted from each class and the odds are 1 in 6. Ashley had initially thought that either her classmate or she would be chosen but now the competition  also comes from speakers from the other 2 classes. I thought that at this point, I will have to manage her expectations that she may not be the chosen one and at the same time, encourage her to try her best since she wants to do it. I also thought that this can be a good lesson for her to learn to accept failure and face rejection should she not be chosen. However, if she does get chosen, she can equate the hard work with reward.

We started off working on paragraphs, tackling all the big words which she has not come across. There were words like witness; occasion; benefitted; holisitc; environment; opportunity etc. Ashley started off very enthusiastic but somehow, this enthusiasm waned off as on some occasions, she preferred play to working on speech. At times, she would lament that she did not really want to be chosen to do the speech so that she did not need to practise anymore. I’ll  encourage her to always try her best in everything she does. We have to take a break from the practice mid-week as Ashley came down with a fever.

As Ashley got better on Sunday (the day before school reopens), we resumed our practice. This time, we robed in Jarod to give his little sister some pointers. Jarod had just discovered his new found talent of speaking in public. He has never liked it during his primary school days. To our and his surprise, he discovered that he can deliver a speech naturally and confidently in public as he enters secondary school. In no time, he was tasked as the speaker on various occasions and presentations. His most recent achievements were being appointed emcee for the Chinese New Year celebration and then the National Day/Hari Raya celebration. Jarod did give his little sister some good advice like maintaining eye contact and looking up at the audience after every paragraph (he calls this cheating eye contact). We were satisfied that she can read the speech fluently. She seems enthusiastic once more.

As the week passed, there was no news of the audition, except that the teacher asked her classmate and her to read the speech to the classmates during a practice round. Then, today, Ashley came back and told me that she has done her speech to the principal. However, she said that the script was not allowed. I was taken by surprise and asked her how she fared. ‘Good!’ she said. I asked her if she had only said a few words as she has not memorised the speech. To my surprise, she managed three quarter of the speech. She told me the principal also asked her some questions like what she has learnt in school and what makes a good student. Her answer to the good student was to pay attention in class and always try their best in everything they do. I thought she handled the questions quite well.

It is not known as of now if she has been chosen. Regardless of the outcome, she is my pride and joy.