Martia Higgins: Wise beyond her years

MANDEVILLE, Manchester:

ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD MARTIA Higgins has been excelling in dance for the last five years, but she is known even more for how critically she thinks and how well she vocalises her thoughts.

Though she loves spending time with family at the beach or an all-inclusive hotel, little Martia said expressing herself through dance is a plus.

On a high from a recent performance win with her colleagues from the Khulcha Dance Theatre, Martia revealed that her confidence has improved significantly since she has started dancing.

“There were a lot of groups, doing different dancing and we pulled through and that made me very happy … We danced to gospel and we brought the energy. Dancing makes me happy and it helps to build my confidence.”

The aspiring architect not only does well on stage, but also in academia, maintaining a grade point average that keeps her on the honour roll.

“I like math. I score between the 80s to 100, and I know a lot of people don’t like it but I do. I want to help children who don’t like math. Sometimes the teachers don’t explain it fully for the students to understand, but I know I could help them.”

She said that even more worrying for her is not that children who have the ability sometimes don’t do well in school, but that are being killed mercilessly.

“I try not to give any thought to these things because it really gets me down. I am encouraging all parents to watch over their children, be very protective, don’t trust them with too many persons and don’t give them time to wander off. My parents always tell me not to take anything from people, and I want to send this message to the children out there as well,” Martia noted.

She added: “I want to help the children of this country and the homeless because the needs are great. When I hear about this thing that people must stop feeding street people, I think it makes no sense. I want to give the poor what they need and what they don’t have, like food. So many people on the street are hungry and I want to help them. If people are hungry, why should you not feed them? Everyone should be treated equally,” she told The Gleaner.

Motivated by her father, who continues to share with her the value of education, Martia left these final words with her little brothers and sisters across the world: “Believe in yourself, say to yourself that you can do it, and never believe anything otherwise” she said.