It’s been an interesting last 30 days for Arista. Last month on her birthday she switched schools.

Thanks to the alternative education format we opted for her very early on, she’s never had any tests/ exams till now. This is her first year (and first month) of exams.

Here are some of the results and how she responded to them.
Arista: “Pappa, I got 12/20 in Maths.”
Me: “That’s great. And what does that mean?”
Arista: “Nothing.”

Arista: “12/13 in Science.”
Me: “Superb. And what does that mean?”
Arista: “Nothing.”

Arista: “9/10 in Hindi.”
Me: “Awesome. And what does that mean?”
Arista: “Nothing.”

Arista: “5/10 in Social Studies.”
Me: “Excellent. And what does that mean?”
Arista: “Nothing.”

At age 14, Arista has got her life fundas right. She’s got to be disciplined, committed. She has to be present, mindful. She’s got to take ownership and responsbility for her actions and the outcomes she produces. She has to be actively engaged in her work, respectful to her classmates and teachers and she has to be collaborative. She got a whopping 35/40 on these 5 parameters in a qualitative assessment, which in her words also means “nothing.”

The biggest funda she’s got right is that tests are just feedback mechanisms designed to assess what you know and what you don’t. You don’t have to label yourself as the planet’s biggest idiot just because you got a low score on a particular day. And you don’t have to believe you’re the smartest kid on the block just because of a high score.

Most importantly Arista knows that comparing your scores with others is the dumbest thing you can do.

Arista is not superhuman. She loses power at times. And whenever she does, she applies all the powerful coaching concepts she knows and bounces back. 30 days back, her first day at her new school was disastrous. She wanted to quit it. Today she is super confident and UNSTOPPABLE. A big hug to Seema for her support during that tough period.

I have always believed that we are most powerful when we are children. We lose power because of our adult surroundings.

I pray that our children stay children even when they become adults. And for that to happen I know I have to keep my adult brain in my pocket.. and think like a child myself.