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A Reluctant Child

By Maria T. Olia

"It was so embarrassing. The coach had to drive me back to school in her car."

And at the end of the season, Kian has his worst meet of all and comes in dead last. But Kian doesn't walk away. He sticks with it.

Then one day, soon after the cross-country season ends, Kian comes home from school and bursts into the house. "Today was the best day ever! In gym class everybody had to run a mile, and I came in third!"

I thought about his classmates, the ones for whom friendships come easily and success at school and on the playing field seem so effortless. Yet, I know that for my son, third place in a gym class required mile is huge.

"I ran it in seven minutes. No one ever thought I was good at sports. Everybody was cheering for me – even the popular kids."

Kian's worst middle school fear, being shunned, never materializes. He has a small group of new friends that he hangs out with. In the spring, he joins the track team – the mile is his specialty – and he holds his own. Even his grades are coming along.

One recent morning, as he slings his backpack over his shoulder and heads out the door to school, I overhear Kian say softly to himself, "Let's step into the world." Kian doesn't walk away anymore.