I was sharing with staff the other day that I grew up in North Queensland. Many of our family are cattle farmers, both dairy and beef. As a 10year old, I went to stay with my dad’s brother who ran several properties but lived on a dairy farm on the Atherton Tablelands, up near Cairns. My grandfather was a Lighthorseman in World War 1, and horses were an important part of family culture. Many of my male cousins were outstanding horseman and rodeo riders. They were 5 to 10 years older than me, and when I arrived at the farm for the summer holidays, I asked them if they could help me learn to ride a horse. They had been riding horses since they learned to walk, and I looked up to them with great admiration. After much nagging, they agreed to teach me. However, they had a condition. They said they would not teach me to ride a horse until I had ridden every calf in the dairy herd. They ran all the calves into the race and lifted me up on to the first one and opened the gate to the yards. The calf ran out, with me trying to hang on to any hair I could grab. Needless to say, I fell into the dirt almost immediately. I got up. Walked back over to the race and they put me on the next one. I think there were about 30 or 40 calves in total, that they made me ride. I have a vivid memory of landing in the dirt for the umpteenth time. My eyes were watering and burning, my nose was running, and I was hurting all over. I remember wiping my nose on my sleeve and pushing myself back to the race to go again, If this was what it was going to take for them to teach me to ride a horse, then this is what I would do.

Grit determination, stubbornness, pigheadedness, call it what you like, but that persistence was what brought me the reward I wanted. They taught me to ride. Not only that, the skills of balance and feeling which way the animal was moving under me, were priceless when it came to actually riding a horse. As we start this school year, I would like to encourage our students to keep on going when things don’t come easy. I would also like to encourage us as parents and teachers to create opportunities for our kids to have to be positive and keep on going, even when, no, especially when, things don’t happen easily for them. Stickwithitness (if that is even a word) is one of the greatest assets we can have in life and what better time to learn it, than when we are young, and there are people around to guide and encourage us – not do it for us, but be there to encourage us as we learn.

Have a great week with your tenacious kids,

Mark B