What do you do with one bad chapter?

One bad chapter doesn’t decide how the whole story turns out. But Nicky had decided it was his last chapter of life.

Nicky was a bright student. Top of the class in his primary school Mathematics exams. Received Honourable Mention awards in Mathematical Olympiad competitions year after year. Got into a prestigious secondary school and got involved in Robotics, coding competitions and anything mathematical. He was a cheerful boy, well liked by his peers and teachers, always making us laugh. But not for long.

Nicky started feeling the pressures and demands to continue being that bright student who bagged awards and top marks. His smile and voice slowly faded as he retreated into the background. I figured ah that was just puberty setting in, just a phase. He’ll get over it. He would just come out of his room one day, smile cheerfully and say, Hey Aunty Mia, what’s up?

Nicky never did say that to me. He flunked his exams. Got reprimanded by his teachers for being disrespectful and for not completing his assignments. Sent for counseling in school. But that didn’t seem to work for him. He retreated even further into his little corner. Everyone saw less and less of him. Sleeping in til noon and napping til dusk. At that point, I wished I could adopt him. Take him away from the demanding, stressful environment he was in and help him discover and embrace his strengths and weaknesses. He had so much potential to be successful. He just needed to be happy and loved. If only he could have had that ounce of…