"And everyone would say, 'Hey, that's Phil's boy!'"

Props to you if you recognized this post's title as a reference to Disney's Hercules (1997). I wouldn't say I'm a Disney fanatic (I have never bothered, nor would I ever bother, to buy all the paraphernalia), but I have watched and re-watched the classics enough times in my childhood that more things than I'm willing to admit were seared into my brain...

source: disneyismyescape.tumblr.com

Moving on, this is a 'proud moment' story. I've had this particular student for the past two and a half years or so, since practically the beginning of her English language education. She's in sixth grade (the last year of elementary school by the Japanese educational system) now; we'll call her Haruka.

It came time to send a flyer to our students and their parents to encourage them to take the English language proficiency test. There are several levels - bronze through gold for elementary students, then number Level 5 up to Level 1 intended for junior high and senior high school students. Usually, I abhor teaching to the test because there's very little room for either myself or my student to exercise creativity during lessons that are just drills for test-taking skills. Still, I showed and went through the flyer with Haruka out of obligation, just in case she was interested.

This is one thing I love about Haruka: she takes on most any challenge I throw at her. After the initial routine 'Augh, a test?!' grumbles, she grew more confident as we went through the sample questions for the bronze, silver, and gold levels provided in the flyer.

"What the--? This is so easy!" she would remark.

"Isn't it? I told you you could do it!" After a think, I added, "Do you think you could try Level 5, for the junior high schoolers?"

Long story short: yes. Yes, she did. We went through the whole packet (sans the listening section) of past exam problems I had happened to have during the remainder of the hour-long lesson. While she didn't quite breeze through them, it was relatively painless.

In an attempt to maintain morale and give her positive feedback, I told her, "Look at you! You're so amazing for being able to answer these questions!"

Without missing a beat, she modestly responded, "Well, it's all because of you, isn't it?"

What a dear heart. She couldn't have filled me with more joy and pride than with that response. I grinned back at her and answered, "Thanks."

At the end of the day, Haruka decided that she would probably skip the bronze, silver, and gold levels altogether and challenge herself to take the Level 5 test (meant for students of English at least a year older than her!) at the next available test date.

I don't worry for her future at all. I just have to make sure I don't get complacent, but continue to provide her with lessons that further tease the boundaries of "I can" and "I can't".