Getting Experience

I took a break from internet surfing. I was trying to think about something to write in my blog. The student Art Gallery was open so I went inside. I’ve drawing and painting as a hobby for years in my spare time. I like to see what other people are working on.

There was a young college girl sitting across from a chess board with. I asked her if she was a chess player. She said she was new at it. So I sat down and started a game. While we were playing I gave her some tips on developing strategy and some guys came in and watched.

When she got stuck one guy moved a piece for her. I told him, “She’s not going to learn if you play her game.” Someone else gave her advice and offered to help her a little later and she just gave up. So I told her I hope my tips helped her and walked away.

I wanted to tell those guys they got good at chess by playing games and coming up with their own strategies, not by having people help them and take over their games.

No one gets good at something overnight. You have to get good at crawling before you can walk. Sometimes being nice and helping someone isn’t the best thing to do.

But some things you just have to learn on your own.

Written by Mark Blevins