You may remember us talking about grit earlier this year. It’s a fascinating topic and I’m reading a great book by Paul Tough called “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character.” It cites research revealing the importance of character, even more than cognitive skills, in leading to happy fulfilling lives. That’s exactly what our scholarship students develop in the Youth Development Program: optimism, grit, social intelligence, gratitude…and the effectiveness is demonstrated in the program graduates.
Jose Luis, for example, couldn’t find a job in his field as a mechanic right after he graduated, because no one wanted to hire someone without experience. While many would have given up and gone back to working the fields, he persisted – convincing a shop to let him work for free for a year (they just covered his transportation costs) so that he could get the necessary experience. Now he’s been working in a paid position for two years in the field he loves. Now that’s what I call grit.
Signing off from Guatemala,
Katie