I Just Realized My Son Could be a Multipotentialite!

I am so happy and thankful that I have encountered this concept of multipotentiality as early as now. According to Wikipedia, multipotentiality is

“an educational and psychological term referring to a pattern found among intellectually gifted individuals. Multipotentialites generally have diverse interests across numerous domains and may be capable of success in many endeavors or professions, they are confronted with unique decisions as a result of these choices.”

This TED talk by Emilie Wapnick, very clearly explains what a multipotentialite is. The video has opened my eyes and mind and helped me to be more understanding of what could be happening to my son, Theo.

As a toddler, Theo was a dinosaur expert and he said he wanted to become a paleontologist. He devoured lots of books about dinosaurs and was already a fluent reader even before he started school at age 4.

When Theo was in Grade 3, he self-studied Beethoven's Für Elise on the piano before he even started taking piano lessons. In Grade 4, I saw him teaching a high school student how to play all the chords (C, Cm, Cm7, CM7, C7, C#, C#m, C#m7, C#M7, C#7, D, Dm, Dm7, DM7, etc.) on the piano.

Theo's first piano recital held at UP Diliman

In Grade 5, he joined NaNoWriMo's (National Novel Writing Month) Young Writers Program, and was able to write a full novel. He actually surpassed his word count goal and went as far as that of an eighth grader. At this time, he had already written about 15 installments of his Sparkister book series (a science fiction about the life of a cat family).

Also during the same year, Theo completed Course 3 of code.org's Computer Science Fundamentals - International.

In 2016 (Theo was in Grade 6,) he created several computer programs such as a simple calculator, his own operating system and his own simple version of Pokémon GO (which he named PokéBatch), all written in Microsoft Batch File Language. He also learned Blender, a “3D computer graphics software toolset used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, interactive 3D applications and video games,” all by himself, for free. Paid online classes for learning Blender can cost up to $200. Theo sometimes uploads videos of his Blender tutorials on YouTube.

As of today, Theo continues to be a voracious reader, having read all of the Harry Potter series and all book series written by his favorite author, Rick Riordan. He has also read Erin Hunters' Warriors Novel series, all the books by Brandon Mull, other novels by different authors, and once in a while, reads non-fiction such as "Steve Jobs: Thinking Differently" by Patricia Lakin, "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki and some books by Bro. Bo Sanchez. One impressive feat was when he read Peter Lerangis' "Lost in Babylon" (from the Seven Wonders series), with 373 pages, in only less than a day. I would also like to mention that he reads at least one chapter from the bible DAILY!

Theo still continues to sing and play musical instruments (piano, guitar, drums). He particularly likes the music of The Chainsmokers and he uploads videos of his music covers on YouTube. He occasionally composes songs and does photo editing.

He is currently working on his latest novel, and his word count, so far, is 13,867 words.

Recently, he became interested in hypnosis and learning sign language. He has been spending long hours reading articles about those topics.

Writing this long litany of Theo's interests and accomplishments, it is very obvious that I am very proud of my son and I totally appreciate all of his gifts and talents. However, when he suddenly shifts to a new interest, I somehow "miss" the things that he so passionately did just a few months ago.

I told him, I'm probably like a fan of a love team, who can become sad when this love team suddenly separates. The love team is like an analogy for him and any of his interests. For example, Theo and his passion for writing novels is like a love team. Whenever there is a long gap between a certain time and the last time that he wrote, I would miss that love team of him and his writing. If he has not been singing and playing musical instruments for quite a while, I would miss that love team of him and his music. But just like a fan, I am only a spectator. I admire him from a distance and applaud at whatever he does. A fan could never dictate to his idol that he should do this or that. He is simply pleased and happy with every performance that his idol presents.

Thanks to this new concept of multipotentiality, I am now able to cope up with Theo's sudden shift of interests. If before, I was bothered by the thought that Theo might find it hard to choose the right career for him if he couldn't focus on one particular passion, now, I am happy to note that because of his multipotentiality, many doors of opportunities can easily open for him.

If before, the old saying "jack of all trades, master of none" could cause me some worry, now it has taken a new positive meaning. This article even says that the saying that we commonly know actually got cut short and the original continues to ... "but oftentimes better than a master of one.” The article further states that "having multiple interests but not being an expert in anything could actually prove advantageous."

It is also very assuring to know that Theo is in good company. Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, René Descartes, Isaac Newton, Aristotle and our very own Dr. Jose Rizal are just a few of the most famous multipotentialites.

For now, I will just continue to revel at the fact that God has blessed my son with so many talents. I will support him as much as I can and guide him as best as I can for as long as he needs me.

I end each post with the lesson/s I learned from the particular experience for the said post and keep them in mind as my "mama goals" that I can apply in everyday life and future events or activities. Perhaps they can be your parenting goals as well.

Here are my MamaGoals for this post:

• Appreciate, support, understand and always keep an open mind.
• Continue acquiring knowledge. I would have never known about multipotentiality if I had stopped learning.