In the afternoons at the pool, I am watching a little girl, about three years old, half kill herself learning to swim. She is within days of getting it. She keeps going in too far and too deep and jumping off the side and then struggling to rescue herself again and again. She shrugs off her mother. "I can do it!"
In the same pool, at the same time there are kids resisting their swimming lesson with all their might. They cling to the edge, have to be helped on any foray from the steps, hardly kick, looked pained.
What is going on in the mind of the motivated kid? She sure looks like the motivation comes from herself. Her mother would much rather have her in the class. No bribe there. Watching people over the years has lessened my understanding rather than expanded it.
My son didn't show any particular interest in reading once he learned how until a book contest was announced in his second grade class. I think he read something like 250 books in the contest time. The library has never been so busy, we raced to the used book store in the next town, and I spent a small fortune on index cards. It couldn't have been the prize that got him going. It was a $10 gift certificate at the book store. I had never seen a competitive streak in him. What was the kicker?
One of my daughters showed a similar trait around fifth grade. She wasn't a great speller, but something about this spelling contest at her school got her going. Because she wasn't a natural, she memorized thousands of spellings and made some high rank in the city or state. I couldn't believe it. I am among the world's worst spellers and not that great a memorizing. Where did this come from?
On a much bigger scale, whole countries can show motivation that is incredible. A friend was just at a University in Havana and saw students up at all hours of the day and night copying books that are so scarce that they can't leave the library. They want to learn so badly that they will make tremendous sacrifices for education. In other islands in the same region, the kids have little or no motivation to go any further than they have to.
Same in the USA. In some areas the drop out rates are shocking, if you can even get hold of them. What kicks in that "I can do it" feeling in some of us and not others? Is it hope? Is it karma? Is it perfect parenting? Is it an ability to fail again and again until they get it right? Is it a sense of destiny? Is it the food? As usual, I don't know. I do remember one motivating force in my youth. When I had a great teacher, I wanted to make them happy. Was it love?
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