Chapter 17 – Art Class

Third person POV

  The next day, Robert did his usual morning routine, which consisted of training, a short bath time, breakfast, and dressing up for school, before grabbing his leather shoulder bag and left the house while saying goodbye to Blaise. On the way to school, Robert meet up with William and Emma, who had been waiting for him, and they all went to school together, except Emma had to do it due to William's insistence.

  Later at school, after their history class, they are now in art class taught by Nelson Laurel, a very artistic and creative art teacher. It was the first day at that class, which is only twice a week unlike most classes. Their first lesson is to do the basics of drawing, which consists of drawing simple shapes and making simple combinations. They used pencils that doesn't have any erasers on it, but instead, they used separate kneadable erasers to erase mistakes. Today, Nelson was positive and make good compliments to their students' works, believing that being creative is important to their development and being independent.

  And now, after the part about other shapes like squares and rectangles, Robert was having a little hard time making a perfect circle without a compass, while William easily makes one with minimum effort. Upon seeing William's work, he was surprised, asking, "How did you do that?"

  "Well, if you focus where your pencil goes without any distraction," William explained in his own words, "you'll have a perfect circle."

  "Oh, okay then. I'll try that."

  "How about start with the smaller ones?"

  "Right. I forgot about that: start with something small. Thanks, William-kun."

Robert then went back to his seat, grabbed his pencil, and started drawing small circles carefully and with focus to his pencil's movement.

Then, Nelson took a glance at Robert's work. "Wow, that was a bunch of cute circles you had."

  "Yeah, William-kun gave me a tip that I should start with something small and easy," Robert responded to him, "and as well as focusing where your pencil goes."

  "Ah, I see. That's good. Starting with something small and easy will make you prepare for something hard and complex. And also, concentration and persistence are keys to progress."

  "I get it now, sensei. Something that is easier are the foundation to something complex. And also, focus is the result of concentration and persistence."

  "Good, very good. I'll give you 5 points plus for understanding that."

  "Thanks."

But, Emma was struggling to make perfect circles and her first sheet of paper was full of imperfect circles of various sizes. Nelson noticed this, and he went to him and see her messy work. "I guess you're struggling the most."

  "Yeah, sensei, it's so hard," Emma responded. "How I supposed to do this?"

Knowing William's tip on how to do it, Nelson answered back, "How about you follow William and Robert's tip: start with something small and easy and, focus to where your pencil goes."

  "Do I have to follow their advice?" Emma retorted back.

  "Well, it's your choice whether to follow it or not. You choose, not me."

But, Emma preferred the hard way, and she kept on struggling to make a perfect circle.

Seeing this, Nelson just smiled and thought, "I hoped her development will grow and evolve."

He then went back to his desk.