Fish Can't Fly

I meant to complete this post last week before A-Level results, but I'm just in time for GCSE results. I remember back in the day when I was sitting my GCSE exams, after which I had a loooooong, relaxing 3 month break before I had to collect results. I remember on results day, walking into the assembly hall at The Grange School, watching my peers all in tears; some tears of joy, others of disappointment. That really made me a little anxious. So, I know exactly what some of you are going through right now but I just wanted to share a few words.

Many people will judge you by your academic achievements, because, let's face it, a good education is the "most priceless possession one can have". However, what our society tends to forget is that, we can't all be good at everything. Imagine this scenario - A fish and a bird were arguing about who was better than the other. Wise owl was watching this from a distance with much interest and fascination, so he decided to teach them a valuable life lesson. The fish and the bird were challenged to do two things in order to decide who was "better" than the other. The first test was to get to the top branch of a tree, however they wanted, as long as they didn't get assistance from anybody else. Effortlessly, the bird lifted its wings and flapped a few times and UP it went, plonked itself onto the branch. Meanwhile, poor fish wriggled and wiggled on the ground to no avail. So the result was that the bird was actually better than the fish. The fish, crestfallen, started to retreat to its pond, when owl reminded him of the second test. He told them to swim underwater in the pond for 5 minutes without coming up for air. The fish's face lit up as he thought, "Now, that's my thing!". He dived into the pond and so did the bird. However, within a couple of seconds, the bird came up for air, choking and coughing away. So the result was that the fish was indeed better than the bird. Puzzled, they both turned to the owl. "We've both won a round each, so who is better?" The wise owl looked at them with a smile on his face and said, "Neither of you is better than the other." You see, judging from the ability to get to the top branch of a tree, the bird was better than the fish, but judging from the ability to swim underwater for 5 minutes, the fish was a star! The thing is, they both thrived when they were "in their zone", doing the things which they're best at.

The point of this adapted short story of mine is that, we can't all be good at everything. You may not be academic, but you've got other equally important talents to exhibit to the world, such as singing, dancing, sport, etc. Don't let your grades define you because Fish can't fly, but they sure as heck can SWIM! Good luck to those collecting results and others awaiting life-changing decisions.

Have a great week

xx