Tommy was a fine student. Well, at least he was the finest student in his class. He was always first in every test. But there was only one thing wrong; none of his classmates really liked him.
In many ways they admired him and even wished that they could be like him. However Tommy had one fault that they did not like, he liked to boast. No one likes a boaster.
When Tommy came first in the math test, which he always did, he would go around the class thumping his chest and boasting, “No one test for I am the best. I am the best in any contest.”
When he won the science quiz, he would strut around the class and crowed that he was first again as if no one really knew it or as if they really cared about it.
Every one knew that Tommy would come first in everything but he had to make certain that he rubbed it in real good.
It was not because he was a brilliant student. In fact, he was just an average student who was in a class of underachievers. The rest of them just did not try. They did not have any confidence in themselves and so they just sort of drifted along and allowed Tommy to be the king of the class.
Tommy reveled in the situation. Soon he did not have any friends, but that did not matter to him. He did not care he was the brightest student in the class and they were just a bunch of losers.
One day his teacher, Miss Barton, took him aside and offered him some advice, “Tommy, we all know that you are the brightest student in our class, but don’t you think that you should be a little more humble. No one likes any one who blows his own trumpet.”
Tommy just hung his head down low and thought to himself, “What is she talking about? What does she expect me to do? I will not be able to enjoy my victories if I cannot boast about them.”
Miss Barton was talking again. “ You must show respect to your classmates and they will respect you. You know something, maybe you ought to help your classmates to become better instead of just crowing.”
That one got Tommy wondering, “Now she is really going too far with this. I don’t want anyone to challenge my position in this class. It feels so good to be the king of this roost. If I help them to be better…he could not even bear to think of what this could mean.
He was glad just to get away from his teacher and her solutions.
One day a new student came to Tommy’s class.
“Children, I would like to introduce a new member to our class. Her name is Judy. She has just moved into our community and will be your new classmate.”
That was when Tommy’s troubles began. From that day he could never come first in his class again. Try as he might, Judy always came out on top.
But the funny thing was, she never boasted. Instead, she would always try to help her classmates to learn how to solve their problems.
The result at the end of every test was always the same. Judy came first. Tommy came second. And it was not even close. The harder Tommy tried, the harder it became for him to beat her. The more times he came second the more he began to hate her. He had lost his position as the king of the class and he did not like it.
One week their teacher had a spelling bee competition, and Tommy studied hard for it. As the competition wore on, one by one the other children dropped out. Soon there were only two of them left; Tommy and Judy.
Both of them spelt so well that their teacher had to declare it a tie. But that did not sit too well with Tommy. He pouted all day and grumbled to himself, “That’s not fair. She always got the easy ones and I always got the hard ones or else she would have dropped out too.”
