My teenage son often asks me if he will ever be popular in school. Like many kids of his age, he tends to measure acceptance with popularity. Since time immemorial, being popular in school meant being one of the cool guys and gals in the campus. These are young people who take it upon themselves to maintain a certain image suggesting some kind of superiority over the "lesser beings" - actual or imagined. I can tell you quite frankly that my son isn't one of them.

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Teenage life can really be confusing. It is like walking on some kind of tightrope where you are being pulled both ways and can fall off any time. There are criteria to be met to belong to the cool group. Sometimes it can be very difficult because the image is just not you and yet you try, because of your desired acceptance.



That is the reason why I am placing this video of my son here only now when in fact it has been uploaded in YouTube by someone else almost a year ago. For some reason, my son appeared to be extremely embarrassed by it. Being his mother, I am a natural and automatic fan of whatever he does. It doesn't need to be exceptional for me to be impressed. It just needs to come from his efforts. My readers will have to forgive me for seeing nothing to "laugh at" about it. I see it more of a material to "laugh with" and enjoy.

Uncool - The Dreaded Word

Watching this video, I have to admit that I am very amused with his antics here. I can relate them with his home persona but never in my wildest dreams with his public persona specifically in school. He is usually reserved and quiet in public, always afraid of being judged by his peers lest he comes out strange and uncool.

The Struggle

I wasn't surprised therefore when he came home one day looking very agitated and nervous. When I learned that he was supposed to rap in school about "Rules of Signs and Integers" for their Math subject, I felt nervous as well. He was afraid to look silly in front of the class. If you know my son however, you will know that he will do everything to get a good grade especially for group projects and presentations. He was clearly struggling whether to perform "so-so" and safe or to go all-out and risk the chance of looking ridiculous.

The High Point and the Low

Obviously, he chose the latter. They got the highest grade for that presentation and the teacher showed their presentation to all Grade 7 classes. That was the high point. The low point came when the cool guys asked him if he was not embarrassed by what he did. His happiness and sense of achievement was cut short by a mere few words. That explained his embarrassment.

My Say

Even if I am his mother, I am solidly in contact with the truth. I know he is far off from being the best rapper there is. What I appreciate about it is that he went out of his comfort zone to give it all he's got and for that I am mighty proud of him. He can be the uncoolest guy in school for all I care but he will always be my coolest son.

That said, To borrow some words from the Bible, let me just say:

This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased...



...cool or not, in someone else's definition.