Beautiful Me

The History of The Lilypads

Hi! I am Hops. I live in a pond called Lilypads. I run a school for frogs. I did not planned to be a teacher but I had so much fun imparting knowledge to all the younger frogs at The Lilypads that I became a teacher. I am what you call an accidental teacher.

It all started with my thirst for knowledge when I was young. I asked questions about everything around me. I was the most inquisitive frog around. I drove all the other frogs crazy with all my questions. Later, I drove all the other frogs crazy because I had an answer for everything. I knew so much because I took the interest to learn.

What surprised me was the curiousity of the young. They were captivated by my knowledge and they always wanted to know more. They reminded me so much of myself when I was young. I was even more surprised when I found that I enjoyed telling them about the world around them. It was fun.

That's how I became a teacher. I teach on the lilypads at The Lilypads. Now, that's a story in itself.

When I started teaching, I had but a few young frogs around me. I was teaching by the banks of the pond. It was quite manageable. There will a few problems with birds and animals of prey that try to make a meal of us. Every now and then a snake would slither by, hoping to catch us unaware. We were alert and managed to hop away to escape from the snake.

The problem came as the group grew larger.

We had more and more young frogs joining the groups. It was getting harder and harder to find a clearing on the bank of the pond large enough for everyone. More importantly, it was getting to be a hazard. It was getting difficult to run away from birds and snakes that prey on us. We stampeded some of the frogs were hurt.

It was obvious that a solution must be found in order for the class to continue -- and fast.

Whilst hopping along the banks, I absent-mindedly hopped on to the lilypads that was found in abundance in the pond. I merrily hopped from one lilypad to another when I suddenly realised where I was.

I had a brainwave!

The lilypads will be where we will hold our lessons. I named our school "The Lilypads".

This will be an ideal solution. Each lilypad can only hold 1 frog so there will be no over-crowding. We will be in our elements as we are right on the lake. If danger lurks, we can easily seek protection by jumping off the lilypads and into the pond.

I moved the class to The Lilypads. The younger frogs loved it. The parents loved it. I loved it. Everyone was happy.

More importantly, everyone was safe..