Resilience

Will Hanstedt (Grade 4)

Physical Education at NIS is all about values.

Resilience is one of eight personal goals at the heart of our IPC curriculum. Resilience is the thing that makes you keep going when you've had enough. When you're tired, or when your task seems too big; maybe when other people seem to be finding it easy; when you've made a few mistakes and everything is taking longer than you thought; when it would be easier to give up: resilience is the thing that will bring you through.

Norway has produced explorers like Amundsen and Nansen who challenged themselves to do great things in the harshest parts of the world. Norway gave us Grete Waitz, the best women's marathon runner the world has ever known. She won nine New York City Marathons in her career, more than any other runner, male or female. Since retiring as a runner, she has worked for charity and development all over the world. She has been fighting cancer since 2005. These famous Norwegians are great examples for us.

But resilience is not just about being a hero. It's something that can help us in every day life. We can learn resilience. When we challenge ourselves in cross country practice or in a rugby match; when we come back after we've lost a match or a race; when we hold on to the end, win or lose, we are showing resilience. When we finish our homework or study an extra 20 minutes for a tough test, that's resilience. Resilience is never-give-up-ness.

It's one of the most important qualities we have as a school, as staff, and as students.