Once upon a time, in the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota, there was a small neighborhood where all the children went to the same kindergarten. The kindergarten was called “Bright Beginnings” and it was known for having the most hard-working and determined students.
One of these students was a little girl named Ella. She loved going to school and was always eager to learn new things. However, Ella had one problem – she was not very good at drawing. Every day, her teacher would ask the class to draw something and Ella’s drawings always looked like a jumbled mess.
At first, Ella didn’t mind. She thought that drawing was just a silly activity that didn’t really matter. But then, one day, her teacher announced that there would be an art competition in the school and the winner would get a prize.
Ella was excited at the thought of winning a prize, but she knew that she had no chance of winning if she couldn’t draw properly. She tried practicing at home, but no matter how hard she tried, her drawings still looked like a jumbled mess.
Ella felt discouraged and started to think that she was not good enough. She saw the other kids in her class who were naturally good at drawing, and she felt jealous of them.
One day, while walking home from school, Ella saw a poster outside an art store that read “Practice makes perfect.” The poster showed a picture of a little girl drawing and smiling. Ella thought about this and realized that she hadn’t been practicing enough.
From that day on, Ella started practicing every day. She would come home from school and spend hours drawing. At first, her drawings still looked like a jumbled mess, but she didn’t give up. She kept practicing and practicing, and slowly but surely, her drawings started to improve.
The day of the art competition finally arrived, and Ella was nervous. She looked at the other kids’ drawings and saw that they were all amazing. She thought that there was no way she could win.
When the winner was announced, everyone was surprised. The winner was Ella! Her drawing was not the most beautiful, but it was the most creative and original. The judges had noticed the hard work and dedication that Ella had put into her drawing, and they had awarded her the prize.
Ella was overjoyed. She realized that success comes from hard work and dedication, and that anything is possible if you keep trying. She also realized that it’s important to focus on your own progress and not compare yourself to others.
Years later, Ella looked back on that moment with fondness. She had continued to practice drawing and had become quite skilled. She had even started selling her artwork at local art fairs in Minneapolis, where she now lived.
Ella never forgot the lesson she learned as a child – that hard work and dedication can lead to great things. And whenever she saw a child struggling with something, she would always tell them the same thing she had learned from that poster outside the art store – “Practice makes perfect.” And she would always add, with a smile, “Or at least, practice makes progress.
