A good lesson from a Dad

Your Essay
By Shyam Bharadwaj
BECK MIDDLE SCHOOL

The Most Important Lesson One of the biggest lessons of my life was taught to me while I was eating pizza at a restaurant. That I would learn it then – as an 8-year-old kid – I had no clue. It felt like a whack in the face when it was presented to me, but later on I felt embarrassed about being so naïve about the virtue. It impacted my life in a way I couldn’t have perceived before.

Before all this happened, I had been very intrigued by chess and I played it a lot with my dad and other people. I would try to play chess wherever a board and pieces could be found. My dad and I would play against each other very competitively and he would win very often – but I had just won a game against my dad and my ego levels were very high. I felt like I was on top of the world.

…Eventually, but inevitably, the topic of chess was brought up.

As soon as I heard the word chess, fervor in my voice could be heard. I started talking about the numerous victories I had had in the past week. I kept going on about how I could beat anyone at chess over and over again and I also talked about how I beat my dad at chess in almost half the games we played. This was obviously a giant fib. Eventually, my dad came over and said to me: “Son, what are you talking about?” In reply to this, I informed him that I beat him about half the time in chess. I could see a change in his countenance when I said that; from cheery and happy to grave and slightly upset.

I could see that my friends were getting sort of annoyed with me for talking about my chess abilities with such pride. I kept waiting for my friends to congratulate me, or show some type of awe, but nothing of the sort was apparent. A slight sneer could be seen on my friends’ faces, showing that they had not been impressed by my talk.

The party started to wind down and some people started to leave. I had not quite finished my rant about my skills at chess, but I was still quite content. Once we had all gotten our trophies, we gave our thanks to the coach and left.

…”Son, modesty is a very important skill that you have yet to learn. Please, try to be more humble with your friends, Shyam.”

These words jammed themselves in my head and I was speechless. Modesty and humility had never concerned me before. The world outside had stopped; the only things moving were the circuits in my brain. Was I rude? Had I done something wrong? Even while, maybe even before I had thought of these questions, the absolute answer fixed itself in front of me: I had humiliated myself in the largest possible way.

From that moment on, I resolved to never brag again, whether it be about something as light as chess or something important. I had realized that my dad felt very ashamed of my behavior at the restaurant.

That lesson has stayed with me all through my life – and will be with me throughout my future. That seemingly insignificant party had an incredible impact on my life. I was not ever the same person again.

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