As you all SHOULD know, Kolkata hosted a friendly soccer match between the national teams of Argentina and Venezuela last week. Here’s a quote from the Sports’ Section of the Times of India: “Lionel Messi, although an Argentine by birth, no longer plays soccer like an Argentine. Having grown up in Spain and having played for the Barcelona club most of his life, he plays like something completely different. Messi’s style, his character, and his vision of the game are no longer Argentine; but they are not Spanish or Barca either. Messi is, well, he’s something unique, something ‘else’ altogether. Who he is as a soccer player defies a label, it will not be contained, and it cannot be described other than to say: Messi plays like Messi.”
So, here’s the question (I would very much appreciate receiving any responses I can get): Knowing that the student-communities of International and American Schools Overseas are usually comprised of individuals from 50+ countries, who speak 20+ languages, and believe in 15+different religions and faiths (not to mention all the other layers of diversity), how can the “Messi” anecdote serve as a metaphor for “who are students are today” and “who they may evolve into some day?”