Living Museum of Learning
Fergus and the Keyboard
When Fergus arrived in Toronto, he had been in Canada for only two months.
His mother was understandably worried.
He wanted to learn programming and robotics, but he typed with only two fingers.
English word problems were difficult to read.
Everything seemed urgent.
Yet some things cannot be rushed.
Instead of forcing mathematics or programming, we started with something more fundamental:
typing.
A little every day.
Step by step.
What nobody expected was Fergus's determination.
He practiced typing with remarkable intensity.
Whenever he encountered a difficult exercise, he would call:
"Teacher, come here."
I answered:
"I'm not coming."
He insisted:
"Please come."
And I would say:
"I can't practice for you."
Occasionally, however, I demonstrated a little myself. Long ago, I had even won a mechanical typewriter competition.
But the work had to be his.
Within two months, the boy who had started from zero reached 61 words per minute.
Several weeks later, Fergus began racing strangers online.
At first he lost repeatedly.
Then something changed.
His speed increased.
His confidence grew.
Against weaker opponents, he developed a mischievous strategy:
He deliberately slowed down.
Stayed just behind.
And near the finish line, suddenly accelerated and stole the victory.
One day he asked me to type.
I gave everything I had:
62 wpm, zero errors.
Fergus then typed:
68 wpm.
He had surpassed his teacher.
Typing was never the final goal.
It was the gateway.
It made reading easier.
It made programming possible.
It made communication faster.
More importantly, it taught Fergus something about himself.
Progress does not always happen through talent.
Sometimes it happens through repetition, stubbornness, and the refusal to stop.
When I told him:
"You don't need to practice anymore. Sixty-eight words per minute is already very fast."
He answered:
"I don't think it's fast enough."
At that moment, the keyboard was no longer the lesson.
The lesson was determination.
A student can transform a fundamental weakness into a strength within a short period of time.
Daily practice, competition, and persistence gradually build fluency and confidence.
Sometimes the skills that matter most are not glamorous. They quietly unlock everything that follows.
"This little bull. You simply can't do anything with him." 🐂
