Latest news with #achievement
CNN
3 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Parents of successful kids give support but don't micromanage
EDITOR'S NOTE: Kara Alaimo is an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her book 'Over the Influence: Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back' was published in 2024 by Alcove Press. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky. When Jerry Groff's 14-year-old daughter Sarah told him she wanted to swim across a 9-mile lake one Sunday morning, he could have responded in several ways: This idea is crazy — and even dangerous. You should practice swimming more first. We already have other plans. Instead, Jerry and his son boated next to Sarah as she swam. And Jerry's wife, brother and sister-in-law drove along the lake in case Sarah needed a ride home, Susan Dominus wrote in her just-released book, 'The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success.' Sarah ended up swimming the whole lake and setting a town record that day. Today, Sarah True is a two-time Olympian and professional athlete. Her brother, Adam Groff, is a successful entrepreneur. And her sister, Lauren Groff, is an acclaimed novelist. Having parents who fostered their independence was a common theme among people who have grown up to make outsize achievements, according to Dominus, a New York Times Magazine staff writer who interviewed six families for the book. These parents 'were not afraid to let their kids fail at something that seemed really hard,' she said. 'They let their kids make their choices, even if they knew those choices would be difficult.' It's just one of the lessons parents and guardians can take from her research into raising successful kids. While the parents Dominus profiled generally supported their kids' dreams, they didn't micromanage their children's progress. 'In not one of these families were the parents overly involved in their kids' educational lives,' she said. 'They were paying attention, they were supportive, they were there.' But when they showed up for their kids' games, they didn't try to tell the coaches how to do their jobs. Instead, Dominus said, parents focused largely on providing warm, supportive homes and let people like teachers, coaches and other mentors handle the instruction and discipline of their children. In part, adults didn't 'overparent' because they themselves were busy serving as powerful examples, working hard and contributing to their communities. Generally, whether they worked outside or inside the home, they 'were in roles that they felt were meaningful,' Dominus said. While she was raising her children in Florida in the 1950s, another parent, Millicent Holifield, persuaded the state to create a nursing school for Black women. One of her children, Marilyn Holifield, chose to be one of the first students to desegregate her high school in the early '60s and went on to become a local civic leader and the first Black woman partner at a major law firm in Florida. As a Harvard Law School student, Millicent's son Bishop fought for changes to promote racial equity at the school and later convinced the state of Florida to reopen the Florida A&M University law school so more Black lawyers could be trained. Another son, Ed, became a cardiologist and public health advocate. These driven parents imparted the belief that their kids could conquer the world, too. 'There was a tremendous optimism among so many of these families,' Dominus said. 'It's one thing just to say that. But your kids know if you feel it or if you don't, and their own lives had given them reason for optimism.' That's because many of those parents had overcome difficult things 'or surprised themselves or surprised even societal expectations.' Another common theme was valuing education and being curious and open to new experiences, like travel, art and music. To have those experiences, the parents of ultra-successful siblings needed to find the right places and people. They tended to have supportive villages — literally and figuratively. 'They didn't just live in neighborhoods that offered a lot of enrichment,' Dominus said. 'They took great advantage of it.' The Holifields lived near a university in Tallahassee and made the most of it by taking their kids to local cultural events and enrolling them in art lessons, a children's theater and a journalism workshop. Other parents worked to connect their kids to successful people who could teach them skills. Ying Chen immigrated to the United States from China, worked seven days a week in her family's restaurant and wasn't fluent in English, but she cultivated relationships with accomplished local musicians she met so her children could learn to play instruments. Her son Yi became the fifth employee at Toast, a restaurant management business that went public with the biggest IPO in Boston's history. Chen's son Gang joined another notable startup, Speak, which uses AI to help people learn languages. Her daughter, Elizabeth, became a physician. And her son Devon went on to work for Amazon. Of course, we don't all need to raise CEOs or Olympic athletes. People who pour so much energy into one pursuit often have less time to invest in other aspects of their lives, Dominus found in her research for the book. 'To achieve really great things requires sacrifice — and that can be in love. It can be in quality of relationships. It can be in peace of mind, it can be in downtime, it can be in reflection,' she said. If kids set hugely ambitious goals for themselves, it's a good idea to 'remind them that there are costs associated with it.' Parents or guardians often worry about whether they're making the right decisions about things like whether to co-sleep or punish kids, but Dominus said 'these variations, it turns out, have less effect on things like personality and other kinds of outcomes than we really imagined that they do.' Instead, focus on having strong relationships with your children and, most important, Dominus said, 'don't demotivate your kid by being overly involved.' The parents Dominus profiled were the kind who didn't tell their kids they had to swim a lake but let them give it a shot when they wanted to — and were there to love and support them regardless of whether they failed or set a record. Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being.
CNN
3 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Parents of successful kids give support but don't micromanage
FacebookTweetLink Follow EDITOR'S NOTE: Kara Alaimo is an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her book 'Over the Influence: Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back' was published in 2024 by Alcove Press. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky. When Jerry Groff's 14-year-old daughter Sarah told him she wanted to swim across a 9-mile lake one Sunday morning, he could have responded in several ways: This idea is crazy — and even dangerous. You should practice swimming more first. We already have other plans. Instead, Jerry and his son boated next to Sarah as she swam. And Jerry's wife, brother and sister-in-law drove along the lake in case Sarah needed a ride home, Susan Dominus wrote in her just-released book, 'The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success.' Sarah ended up swimming the whole lake and setting a town record that day. Today, Sarah True is a two-time Olympian and professional athlete. Her brother, Adam Groff, is a successful entrepreneur. And her sister, Lauren Groff, is an acclaimed novelist. Having parents who fostered their independence was a common theme among people who have grown up to make outsize achievements, according to Dominus, a New York Times Magazine staff writer who interviewed six families for the book. These parents 'were not afraid to let their kids fail at something that seemed really hard,' she said. 'They let their kids make their choices, even if they knew those choices would be difficult.' It's just one of the lessons parents and guardians can take from her research into raising successful kids. While the parents Dominus profiled generally supported their kids' dreams, they didn't micromanage their children's progress. 'In not one of these families were the parents overly involved in their kids' educational lives,' she said. 'They were paying attention, they were supportive, they were there.' But when they showed up for their kids' games, they didn't try to tell the coaches how to do their jobs. Instead, Dominus said, parents focused largely on providing warm, supportive homes and let people like teachers, coaches and other mentors handle the instruction and discipline of their children. In part, adults didn't 'overparent' because they themselves were busy serving as powerful examples, working hard and contributing to their communities. Generally, whether they worked outside or inside the home, they 'were in roles that they felt were meaningful,' Dominus said. While she was raising her children in Florida in the 1950s, another parent, Millicent Holifield, persuaded the state to create a nursing school for Black women. One of her children, Marilyn Holifield, chose to be one of the first students to desegregate her high school in the early '60s and went on to become a local civic leader and the first Black woman partner at a major law firm in Florida. As a Harvard Law School student, Millicent's son Bishop fought for changes to promote racial equity at the school and later convinced the state of Florida to reopen the Florida A&M University law school so more Black lawyers could be trained. Another son, Ed, became a cardiologist and public health advocate. These driven parents imparted the belief that their kids could conquer the world, too. 'There was a tremendous optimism among so many of these families,' Dominus said. 'It's one thing just to say that. But your kids know if you feel it or if you don't, and their own lives had given them reason for optimism.' That's because many of those parents had overcome difficult things 'or surprised themselves or surprised even societal expectations.' Another common theme was valuing education and being curious and open to new experiences, like travel, art and music. To have those experiences, the parents of ultra-successful siblings needed to find the right places and people. They tended to have supportive villages — literally and figuratively. 'They didn't just live in neighborhoods that offered a lot of enrichment,' Dominus said. 'They took great advantage of it.' The Holifields lived near a university in Tallahassee and made the most of it by taking their kids to local cultural events and enrolling them in art lessons, a children's theater and a journalism workshop. Other parents worked to connect their kids to successful people who could teach them skills. Ying Chen immigrated to the United States from China, worked seven days a week in her family's restaurant and wasn't fluent in English, but she cultivated relationships with accomplished local musicians she met so her children could learn to play instruments. Her son Yi became the fifth employee at Toast, a restaurant management business that went public with the biggest IPO in Boston's history. Chen's son Gang joined another notable startup, Speak, which uses AI to help people learn languages. Her daughter, Elizabeth, became a physician. And her son Devon went on to work for Amazon. Of course, we don't all need to raise CEOs or Olympic athletes. People who pour so much energy into one pursuit often have less time to invest in other aspects of their lives, Dominus found in her research for the book. 'To achieve really great things requires sacrifice — and that can be in love. It can be in quality of relationships. It can be in peace of mind, it can be in downtime, it can be in reflection,' she said. If kids set hugely ambitious goals for themselves, it's a good idea to 'remind them that there are costs associated with it.' Parents or guardians often worry about whether they're making the right decisions about things like whether to co-sleep or punish kids, but Dominus said 'these variations, it turns out, have less effect on things like personality and other kinds of outcomes than we really imagined that they do.' Instead, focus on having strong relationships with your children and, most important, Dominus said, 'don't demotivate your kid by being overly involved.' The parents Dominus profiled were the kind who didn't tell their kids they had to swim a lake but let them give it a shot when they wanted to — and were there to love and support them regardless of whether they failed or set a record. Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being.
News24
3 days ago
- General
- News24
‘Please delete, worried my mother will see': SA reacts to 17-year-old's actuary degree
At just 17, Mongiwa Hazel Ntuli earned an actuarial science degree from the University of Pretoria while becoming the first graduate in her family, sparking national admiration and praise. Social media erupted with a mix of celebration and humour, with users reflecting on their own 17-year-old experiences compared to Ntuli's remarkable achievement. Some teens around the country jokingly asked for her posts to be deleted so that their own mothers don't see her remarkable achievement. Mongiwa Hazel Ntuli's incredible journey has captured the hearts of many, sparking admiration, inspiration, and much-needed doses of humour from social media users. Graduating from the University of Pretoria with a degree in actuarial science at the age of 17, Ntuli not only broke barriers as one of the institution's youngest graduates but also celebrated a monumental achievement as the first in her family to reach this milestone. Her story of brilliance and resilience began in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, with an early academic spark that hinted at her exceptional abilities. By the age of 15, while most of her peers were navigating high school, Ntuli took on one of academia's most difficult challenges - before she could even vote, drink or drive. In the original story published by News24, Ntuli said: 'When I was in Grade 3, I mistakenly wrote a Grade 4 mathematics paper and scored the highest of all the actual Grade 4 students. My teacher identified this and allowed me to write more Grade 4 papers and saw that I performed exceptionally well.' READ | She's only 17 and just completed her actuarial science degree: Meet Mongiwa Hazel Ntuli Responding to the story among the waves of cheers from News24 readers and social media audiences, some couldn't help but mix awe with humour. From sharing quirky self-reflections about their own 17-year-old selves to cracking jokes about Ntuli's academic prowess, the reactions have been as entertaining as they are celebratory. On News24's Instagram post, @ joked: 'Please delete, worried my mother will see,' becoming the most liked comment. Then, @Definitely_not_thabang added: 'I just know her cousins are fighting for their lives rn [right now].' Meanwhile, @ shared the celebratory energy with a side of caution, saying: 'I love to see black girls winning (I hope my parents don't see this).' News24 readers also shared their heartfelt congratulations and encouragement in the story's comments sections. One such comment by user R.N. 87 read: 'Really well done, actuarial science is an extremely difficult degree. I know people who had straight 10As in matric and a 90% in maths drop down to business science due to the difficulty of actuarial science. Furthermore, given your humble background, it makes this achievement all the more impressive. Your parents, friends, and family must be so proud.' Another reader, Shirleyg, praised Ntuli as an example of determination: 'How awesome! A wonderful example to others of what can be achieved if you are determined to rise above your adversities.' I just know she inhaled high school. Leaving it at 14? Damn she didn't see it for nothing. Insane IQ 🔥🔥🔥🔥 — Lady Harlot of House Harlots (@Iyaya_S) May 29, 2025 Over on X (formerly known as Twitter), the mix of humour and admiration continued to flow. User @broztitute jokingly lamented: 'Achievement so remarkable it ruined my day, bruh.' @Linda_mot acknowledged Ntuli's unique gift with the comment: 'A vocation such as actuarial science is one gift. You cannot hard work yourself into that degree.' Through all the jokes and heartfelt wishes, one thing is clear: Ntuli's achievement has resonated with people across the country as an inspiring story of perseverance, brilliance, and consistent belief in one's potential.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Solarsuns investment Guild Launches Achievement Badge System Under Maverick Preston's Vision
Solarsuns investment Guild, guided by founder Maverick Preston, introduces a milestone-based badge system that recognizes cognitive progress and strategic learning achievements among its users. Los Angeles, CA, May 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solarsuns investment Guild has introduced a new achievement badge system designed to reward users for cognitive growth and learning consistency. Developed under the leadership of founder Maverick Preston, the system brings gamified structure to investment education while reinforcing measurable milestones across personal development badge in the system corresponds to specific learning benchmarks, including concept mastery, strategic application, and risk comprehension. As users complete modules and demonstrate cognitive advancement, they are awarded honorary titles such as 'The Thinker,' 'The Strategist,' and 'The Risk Navigator,' all embedded within their platform profiles.'The badge system is not about competition—it's about recognition of mental discipline,' said a senior education strategist at Solarsuns investment Guild. 'These titles reflect a learner's readiness to engage with markets using structured reasoning rather than impulsive habits.'The system leverages platform data on module engagement, decision simulations, reflection journals, and quiz accuracy to determine badge eligibility. Rather than focusing solely on completion rates, it emphasizes behavioral consistency and learning depth—core values championed by Maverick Preston since the platform's founding in now have access to a badge tracker interface that displays unlocked achievements and provides visual feedback on upcoming targets. The goal is to create a sense of progress continuity, where each recognition reinforces a deeper stage of investment initiative is part of a larger movement within Solarsuns investment Guild to align behavioral finance principles with structured learning experiences. By making progress visible and identity-based, the badge system helps users internalize key learning stages and build long-term investment first cohort of users will begin receiving badges this week, with the full rollout scheduled over the next month. Upcoming badges will include collaborative learning achievements and ethical decision markers, expanding recognition beyond technical investment Guild continues to evolve its educational framework through practical innovations aimed at real-world decision-making. The badge system represents both a motivational tool and a philosophical statement: that investing is not just about results, but about disciplined thinking and cognitive more information about Solarsuns investment Guild's recognition systems or upcoming feature releases, visit the official platform portal. CONTACT: Madison Carter Solarsuns info at in to access your portfolio
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
National Spelling Bee champions say it set them up for success: 'You attain a level of mastery'
Joanne Lagatta arrived at the University of Wisconsin in 1995 with a flawless academic record and an achievement on her resumé that she didn't like to talk about — but that no other undergrad on the sprawling Madison campus could claim: Scripps National Spelling Bee champion. The bee winner in 1991 at age 13, Lagatta nonetheless struggled adjusting to life outside her rural hometown of Clintonville, Wisconsin — until she got a push from a professor who was a devoted spelling-bee fan. 'I went in thinking I was a smart kid who had won a National Spelling Bee, and I must be able to compete with the highest-level academic kids. I signed up for a bunch of advanced classes I clearly had no place being in. I thought I was going to fail my chemistry class,' Lagatta says. 'I went to my professor. He stared me down and said, 'I know who you are. I know what you're capable of. You are not failing my class.' He pushed me through that class. I certainly didn't get an A, but I didn't fail.' Lagatta, now 47, turned out fine. She's a neonatologist at Children's Wisconsin, a hospital in Milwaukee. And like many former champions of the National Spelling Bee — which celebrates its 100th anniversary when it starts Tuesday at a convention center outside Washington — she says the competition changed her life for the better because it taught her she could do hard things. Winners of the spelling bee aren't celebrities, exactly. Those who competed before it was televised by ESPN — it now airs on Scripps-owned ION — aren't often recognized by strangers. But they have to accept being known forever for something they accomplished in middle school. Google any past bee champion, and it's one of the first things that pops up. Many past champions have remained involved with the bee. Jacques Bailly, the 1980 champion, is the bee's longtime pronouncer. Paige Kimble, who won a year later, ran the bee as executive director from 1996-2020. Vanya Shivashankar, the 2015 co-champ, returns each spring as master of ceremonies, and her older sister, Kavya, is one of several former champs on the panel that selects words for the competition. Even for those former champs who've moved on entirely, the competition has remained a cornerstone of their lives. The Associated Press spoke to seven champs about their membership in this exclusive club. The surgeon Anamika Veeramani, the 2010 champion, graduated from Yale in three years and got her medical degree at Harvard. A resident in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, she is training to become a craniofacial surgeon, and the focused and disciplined approach that led her to the spelling bee title has been a throughline in her life since. 'You attain a level of mastery over a subject that you wouldn't have otherwise, and that feeling of mastery is very similar across fields,' the 29-year-old Veeramani says. 'Once you know a subject well enough, you're able to really just play with that subject and and come up with things, and there's just a joy and delight in what you're doing. ... I'm going to spend the rest of my career in surgery chasing that.' The journalist Molly Baker was never uncomfortable about her past as the 1982 spelling-bee champion, and in the right context, she's happy to bring it up — as an icebreaker or a standout line on her resumé. 'Oh, I was never cool,' Baker says. 'I knew people who were state tennis champs, and they were, you know, in their own way equally as nerdy. I would always joke about it, that I was queen of the dorks.' Baker, 55, worked as a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal and wrote a book, 'High Flying Adventures in the Stock Market.' She's now a freelance journalist, and she says there's no question her spelling bee title helped her career. 'One summer in college I was an intern at, it was called 'Real Life with Jane Pauley.' It was an evening magazine TV news show,' Baker says. 'And that, I'm sure, was partly a result of having been interviewed on the 'Today' show by Jane Pauley in 1982. I was not shy about saying that when I applied.' The advocate Jon Pennington knew he was socially awkward when he won the bee in 1986. He even wore his mother's bulky sunglasses on the bee stage because the bright lights bothered him. When he was 40, he was diagnosed with autism, a condition he proudly embraces. 'I did not win the National Spelling Bee in spite of my autism. I did not win the National Spelling Bee by triumphing over my autism. I won the National Spelling Bee because of my autism,' the 53-year-old Pennington says. 'For me, it almost felt like if you hear a chord played on a piano but there's a dissonant note in that chord, that's what it felt like when you came across a misspelling.' Pennington, who lives in Minneapolis with his wife and dog, worked for years in corporate human resources and is now working as a writer, collaborating on an as-yet unpublished biography of songwriter Eden Ahbez. He still loves academic competitions and word games, and he has had crossword puzzles published by the Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. The superstar Even among spelling champions, Nupur Lala's name inspires reverence and awe. Her victory in 1999 was later chronicled in a documentary, 'Spellbound,' and she kicked off a quarter-century of Indian Americans dominating the bee. That doesn't mean it was easy to be known for her linguistic brilliance. 'One thing that really stood out about John (Masko), my very soon-to-be husband: Every man I had dated before never wanted to play any sort of word game with me. They would avoid doing the crossword puzzle, refused to play Scrabble,' the 40-year-old Lala says. 'I realized this man was special among so many reasons because he was the first man who was willing to play Scrabble with me consistently, and now I would say we're pretty even in Scrabble ability.' At this point, Masko chimes in via speakerphone: 'She's still much better at crossword puzzles!' Lala works as a neuro-oncologist at Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, New Hampshire. She prescribes chemotherapy and coordinates management of brain and spine tumors. And she has a theory about why spelling champions pursue medicine or neuroscience — because they're already intrigued by how the brain works. 'One thing I was really fascinated by after participating in spelling bees is eidetic memory. Things you've seen in the past flash as pictures in your head, and that occurred for me during the spelling bee,' Lala says. 'When I went to medical school, I didn't expect this at all, I picked neurology because I was so interested in preserving faculties like language that really make people who they are.' The marathoner Kerry Close Guaragno won the 2006 bee in her fifth appearance at nationals and learned plenty about perseverance along the way. 'Looking at these kids who seemed so smart and so experienced, it seemed almost incomprehensible that I could win the competition one day,' said the 32-year-old Guaragno, who works for Group Gordon, a New York City-based public relations firm. 'I'm an endurance runner now. I do half marathons and marathons, and I qualified for the Boston Marathon earlier this year," she says. "Starting out running marathons and not being able to break four hours, and now qualifying for Boston, I learned the mindset and process of how to do that from the spelling bee.' The purist Of the many perks that came with winning the bee, 16-year-old Dev Shah, the victor two years ago, is most proud that he got an op-ed published in The Washington Post about how the bee taught him to take risks and accept the results. During the 2023 bee, Shah spelled 'rommack,' a word with an unknown language of origin that he had never seen before. 'The 40 seconds I spent spelling 'rommack' exhibited the traits of a champion rather than a good speller,' Shah says. 'That's what makes the spelling bee very special. It tests way more than just spelling. It tests critical thinking, risk-taking and poise.' Because he passed those tests, Shah says he's at peace with being forever recognized as a spelling champion, but adds: 'I really hope that it's not the only thing I'm known as for the rest of my life.' ___ Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.
