Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand Aug / Sept 2017: The Kids & Family Issue | Page 28

Kids & Education
Daring to Be,
Daring to Become:
FOSTERING SELF-CONFIDENCE
by Amelie Yan-Gouiffes
T
his summer, I enjoyed the end-
of-year school performance of
my little one, Louis-Maddox,
who was finishing K2. I was very hap-
py my work schedule left me able to
attend, so I could watch these talent-
ed students and support my son. But
on that June day, I wasn’t just a spec-
tator or cheering parent in the crowd:
I was a student, too.
The show was beautifully orga-
nized and colorful, with a wide vari-
ety of dancing styles — Turkish, coun-
try-western, traditional Filipino, to
name a couple — and students from
each grade had their own scenes.
As I watched, I noticed that the
youngest kids exuded confidence.
Despite their cognitive youth, with
28 WANDERLUST
some as young as three years old,
they followed their prepared steps
with ease and self-assurance. They
seemed to really enjoy the perfor-
mance. It’s true that not all of the pre-
schoolers were confident; I could ob-
serve differences in personalities. But,
in the plays with older children, there
was a notable increase in caution.
When the older children danced,
they did so with limited freedom and
fluidity. Aside from a few natural born
performers, some children were fro-
zen in fear. On the whole, these old-
er students seemed to be less daring
than their younger peers.
I wondered: What happened be-
tween the ages of 3 and 6 years that
could explain a drop in the students’
confidence levels? As I thought about
the potential explanations, it occurred
to me that this was not just a matter of
self-esteem, but one of expectations.
LESSONS IN
SELF-CONFIDENCE
My own journey toward becoming
self-confident was a long and bumpy
one that took me decades. Working
on my self-confidence involved, in
part, making sure that what I did,
said, and how I acted were founded
on my purpose and what I really be-
lieved in, not on the need to please
others — not even my own parents.
The day I realized I’d overcome my
struggle with confidence wasn’t too
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