"GRIT" By Angela Duckworth | Book Reflection

I’m not smart.

Throughout the entirety of KG-12, I felt like there were two batches of students. One batch consisted of the naturally “gifted and talented” kids. We didn’t have separate classes for students like them but honestly we should have, because lessons felt like they were being catered only to them. And if you couldn’t keep up, well—you should just know how to keep up.

The other batch, consisted of the students like me who could never keep up. The ones who “should know” the material at this point and if we didn’t it was because “we didn’t study enough.” Nevermind the tireless hours of open books alongside numerous help videos on our laptop screens and a steady trickle of tears sliding down from feeling infinitely dumb. (No exaggeration.)

I say gifted and talented in quotes because I believe all children, students, and people are gifted and talented. But with our current education system, you wouldn’t know because of their blinding obsession with “exceptional talent” rather than seeing the talent and potential in each student.

I didn’t understand what was wrong with me. Why despite my ability to show up for myself and practice the material I still couldn’t understand certain concepts. What felt worse was when speaking up for help, the reaction elicited made me feel like I shouldn’t have asked in the first place.

I wasn’t smart, but I was hard working. While I felt I didn’t belong in the smart kids club, I used that to work even harder. And while I never felt enough for the academic side, I pursued my own passions on my own that later proved to be my greater purpose, through God’s Grace.

This book was the validation that school never gave me. It taught me that while I didn’t know how to write proofs for theorems, what I did have was grit. While I didn’t know the intricacies of all the biological systems, I did have the tenacity to get up everyday and try to understand it.

But you would never know because at the time, school didn’t reward you for trying. It rewarded you for the letter grade you got on your exams despite the effort you put it in trying.

This book is packed with research backed wisdom from the author herself as she lives what she preaches in her own family and with her own daughters. This book is filled with hope and practical strategies for people like you and me, and for educators, for leaders, for parents, and anyone who is in a space that deals with students or people in general.

This book affirmed that being “smart” or “talented” means nothing if you don’t nurture it and keep going. This book reminded me that we all have the capacity and capability to achieve our greatest endeavours and purpose if we have and choose to grow the ability to fall down seven times and get back up eight.

This book reminded me that your situations or what people tell you don’t define your potential. It shows the importance of believing in people and also believing in yourself and the power that emanates when you do so.

If there’s any book that has made me feel seen, it’s this one.