Woman’s Weekly New Zealand – August 05, 2019

New Zealand Woman’sWeekly 31

PHOTOS:

SARAH

WILLCOX

HAIR

&MAKE-UP:

KRISZTINA

MORICZ

T

o fitin aninterview

withtheWeekly, gifted

studentAnyaThurner

hastomissoutonherusual

Saturdayactivities.

The11-year-old,whodivides

hertimebetweenherGerman

fatherChristophandChinese

motherRose,willnormallystart

witha Chineselesson,followed

bya violinlesson,thenpiano,

thenbadminton.

If there’sspaceonthecourt,

sheandRosewillpractise

badmintonforanotherhour.

Afterthat,she’llgotoherdad’s

houseandpreparefortheusual

Sundaychesstournament.

It’sfairtosaythatAnyais not

youraveragechild.Rose(48)

saysshenoticedfairlyearlyon

thatherdaughterpickedthings

upmorequicklythanherpeers.

“I neverthoughtshewas

gifted,”saysRose,“butwhen

shewastwo,I noticedshewas

abletoarticulatethingsreally

easily.Thenwhenshewentto

primaryschool,sheprogressed

academicallyfarmorequickly

thantheothers.AndI started

thinking,‘WhatamI going

todowiththischildif sheis

feelingbored?’”

Rose and Christoph decided

toseeif Anyawouldbenefit

fromgoingtoMindPlus,a

programmeforgiftedchildren

aged6-13in whichshecould

workwitha specialistteacher

foronedayeachweek.

“Whenshepassedthetests

togothere,I realisedshewas

reallybright,”tellsRose.

Anyalovesthetimeshe

spendsatMindPlus,butshe’s

quicktopointoutthatshe

doesn’texcelateverything.

“I’mgoodatsomethings

butI’mterribleatothers.

Forinstance,I’mreallybad

withcomputers–reallybadwith

computers!ButI’mreallygood

atreadingandwriting.”

Shealsoexcelsatchess,

whichis unsurprisingasher

fatherandgrandfatherarealso

chesschampions.

“Mydadandgrandpataught

mewhenI wasfourwhilewe

werein Germanyfora holiday,”

recallsAnya.“WhenI wasseven,

I joinedtheschoolchessclub

andwenttomyfirstregional

chesstournament.I wasthe

youngestandtheonlygirl.”

Shehassincegoneonto

competein BrazilandSpain.

Thisyear,she’simprovedher

international rankings, winning

moregamesthanlosing,which

is a hugeachievementin the

incrediblycompetitivesport.

Thefactthatshespeaks

English,GermanandMandarin

fluentlycanbeanadvantage.

“I wasplayinga chessgame

• it wasa friendlygame,it wasn’t
  serious.Theotherparents
  startedsuggestingmovesin
  Mandarin,”Anyasaysgiggling.
  “Finally,mydadjustsaidto
  them,‘Shecanunderstand
  everythingyou’resaying.’”
  Beinggifteddoescomes
  witha fewdisadvantages.Anya
  worriesaboutnotbeingableto
  liveuptopeople’sexpectations.
  “Sometimespeopleexpectme
  tobethebestateverythingin
  thewholeentireuniverse,which
  I definitelyamnot,”shesays.
  Hermumis veryawareof
  Anya’sanxiety.“She’sa very
  sensitivekidandshehasa
  massivememory,soif I say
  anything,goodorbad,she
  willrememberit!Sometimes
  shecomplainsthatherheadis
  goingtoexplodefromthinking
  toomuchandshehashadsome
  problemssleepinglately.”
  Herworriesarecompounded
  bya struggletomakefriendsat
  primary school, although she

doeshavea coupleofclosepals.

“InNewZealand,thereis this

impressionthatit’snotsogood

toexcelacademically,”explains

Rose.“Theycallthesechildren

tallpoppies– theystandoutbut

notin a goodway.It’snoteasy

forthesechildrentogetalong

withchildrenormakefriends,

sotheycanfeela bitlonelyat

schoolandnotthatpopular.”

Roseacknowledgesthat

beingtheparentofa gifted

childcanbedifficultattimes.

Shehastomakecertainthat

Anyais stretchedfarenough

thatshedoesn’tgetboredand

frustrated,butalsothatshe

feelssupportedandnotunder

toomuchpressure.

ShewillaccompanyAnya

tohernextinternationalchess

competitionin Chinain August.

“It’sbestif I gobecauseof

thelanguage,butit’sa big

commitment.Withmyjob,

I can’tbethatflexible.”

Roseadmitsthatshedidn’t

knowanythingaboutchessuntil

Anyatookit up.However,Anya

hasbeenteachinghermum

thebasicsofthegame.

“She’sgettinggood,”Anya

says with a smile. #

Amy Prebble

Anyaandher

mumRosesay

therearepros

andconstobeing

academically gifted.

‘Sometimespeople

expectmeto

bethebest

ateverything,

whichI definitely

am not’

AnyaappearsinBrainboxes,

whichscreensonJuly 30 and

August 6 at 8.30pm on TVNZ 1.