During a prank, a student quietly stuck a piece of paper on his classmate’s back that read “𝗜’𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱” and whispered to the rest of the class not to tell him.
The day went on, and soon the afternoon math class began. The teacher wrote a very difficult problem on the board. No one dared to step forward except the boy with the sticker on his back. Amid the unexplained giggles filling the room, he walked up confidently, solved the problem, and stunned everyone.
The teacher smiled, asked the class to clap for him, and gently removed the paper from his back. Then she said, “It seems you didn’t know about this paper your classmate put on you.”
Turning to the rest of the class, she spoke with a firm yet calm voice:
“Before I decide on your punishment, remember two things.
First, throughout life, people will try to put labels on you, calling you names and trying to hold you back. If this boy had known about the paper, he might have hesitated and missed the chance to shine. Never let the labels others put on you define your worth. Ignore them, rise above them, and seize every opportunity to learn, grow, and improve yourself.
Second, it saddens me that none of you told him about the sticker. Friendship is not about how many friends you have but about the loyalty you share. If you do not have friends who protect you behind your back, who defend you when you are not around, who genuinely care for you, then you are better off alone.
Always choose friends who have your back. And always be that friend for someone else.”
A powerful lesson, isn’t it? 🌿