Path of personal ambition

All through school, the smartest kid in class who scored top marks was never the most well-off or had multiple private tutors on hand. It was the quiet and confident child who looked like he or she had a few more experiences about life than you, and studied well regardless of the environment.

I recall a boy I knew in grade school who studied on top of a sewing machine because he lacked a study desk. His father had passed on, leaving him and his mother to struggle on a single income and a modest scholarship. Yet he never talked about the lack of pocket money or that he had to travel an hour each way on public transportation to get to school.

This boy in the picture reminded me of him. While studying, he spoke with his father seated to the left (hidden from view) and had a quiet and assuming voice. They discussed ways to fix up the small room they lived in, which happened to also serve as a tailor shop. And if you didn’t look, you’d assume that two adults were having a conversation.

August 2009