A few weeks ago, Hailey and her friend Mary received the Paul Robeson Athletic-Scholarship award at a ceremony sponsored by King County Executive Ron Simms. The Paul Robeson Award recognizes students who excel in both academics and athletics. The girls were nominated to receive this award through the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. It was great to see many of their ballet friends also receive this award. These girls dedicate themselves to hours of classes each week, yet maintain good grades.
One of the guest speakers at the event was Bobby Engram, from the Seattle Seahawks football team. I'm not a big football fan so I had not heard of him before. I *loved* his message to the kids.
1) Believe in yourself - sounds like he had a lot of hurdles to overcome in order to play professional football but he followed his dreams and has been an NFL player for over 10 years!
2) Have a positive attitude
I have really been trying to focus on these two points with the girls and I think it is working... a bit anyways! It seems people tend to focus on the negative aspects of life. When the girls go down this path, I tell them I want to hear the good stuff. It changes the entire conversation.
Paul Robeson was quite an amazing man. You can read more about him here.
Congratulations! How very cool!
Posted by: CraftyEngineer/TexasLonghorns/Geeta | Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 04:37 AM
Linda, I totally agree that we should teach our children to "believe in yourself" and to "have a positive attitude". I try to instill these same ideals in my own children. It is amazing what a difference it makes!
Posted by: Doris | Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 08:49 AM
Let's hear it for the girls! Congrats to them. I'm glad they heard an encouraging word from Bobby, as it sometimes help to hear it from someone in a prominent position and someone other than your parents. :)
Posted by: Melinda | Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 08:54 AM
Congratulations on earning this fabulous award! Keep up the good work! Working hard DOES pay off!
Posted by: Novell | Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 11:18 AM
Congratultions to your daughter and her friend. That is quite an honor, especially the commitment it takes being part of the Northwest Ballet.
Posted by: Susan N | Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 01:18 PM
Congratulations to both girls!!!
Sounds like they heard some very positive words to live by too!
Posted by: Jen | Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 06:23 AM