We sped off on her motor bike and soon in a cloud of dust, pulled up to the school. Instantly I knew this was going to be something special. Instantly all of my other distracting thoughts faded away.
In Sorong, there are very very few white visitors, so just because of my different looks, language and cultural background I stick out like a sore thumb and attract a unsettling amount of attention. A bit like what a celebrity must feel like when he or she goes out in public to a Starbucks for a coffee.
Crammed into the room and lined outside the classroom windows were more school children then I could count. It was a bit overwhelming, and this is coming from someone who spent the majority of his 10 year corporate life presenting in front of groups.
Wahid asked me to just speak English to the class. Ok, so now I have a hundred plus young students looking at me and waiting for me to speak English...
With Wahid translating I began to "speak English".
The first words that came out of my mouth were "when I was your age...." what followed was a shortened version of my life story. The message was, how at their age I discovered what I loved (sailing) and by pursuing that dream - I made it half way across the world to their classroom in Sorong.
As I told this story of my passion for sailing at an early age and "doing what you love", I could see a few of the kids really connecting with the message. . .
The children ended the session by singing me a song that they learned for me in English. This was very moving...
Wahid then asked the class if anyone had any last questions for me. From the back of the room a very small shy young girl stood up, raised her hand, and asked me in English "could you please sing us a song?"
Well I am the furthest thing from an American Idol contestant that you can imagine. I don't even sing in the shower, because I know my singing is that bad. And now I have all of these student chanting for me to sing...
No running here, no where to hide got to suck it up.....So here we go... What suddenly just appeared in my mind was Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds"
So I began with:
Rise up this mornin',
Smiled with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Beside my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs....
and by the end of my frightful rendition of Bob's song the whole room was singing...
"Don't worry about a thing,
Cause every little thing,
gonna be all right..."
I got to tell you I walked out of that school yard on air.
This really got me thinking for the next several months. To make a long story short this day has turned out to be the conception of a new passion that I have, and that is spreading the message of "Doing What You Love" to school kids around the world.
In the past three days I have presented to about 300 students in Male Maldives. It was a very positive and well received experience.
I am currently recruiting mentors. People that are really Doing What They Love and are willing to accept and answer emails from students around the world about what they do and how they achieved that goal.
I am developing a Do What You Love Mentor website at the moment. It is in the very early stages of development:
http://www.dwylmentors.blogspot.com/
Tim
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