Thrive — A Vocabulary Story
Concrete-Cracker
Dayo's first month at his new school had been the quiet kind of hard – the sort where nobody is actually cruel, you just eat your lunch alone and pretend to be very interested in your book.
His dad noticed. Of course he did.
"I didn't bring us here so you could just cope," he said one evening, not looking up from the washing-up. "I want you to thrive."
Thrive means to grow or develop very well; to do well and be successful; to flourish in a particular situation or condition.
Dayo's dad pointed, "Look at that weed in the car park that's cracked straight through the concrete. It's found a way to thrive."
Dayo had thought about that more than he'd expected.
The following week, he asked Mr Hartley whether the robotics club had any space. One spot left. He was wedged into the corner between Neve, who spoke very fast and built very slowly, and Solomon, who built things that never quite worked but always looked brilliant.
It turned out that robotics was exactly the kind of place where someone like Dayo could thrive.
By November, he was the one explaining circuit boards to the others.
By December, their team won the regional competition.
His dad picked him up afterwards. They drove in silence for a while – the comfortable kind – and the trophy sat between them on the seat.
Then his dad said, quietly: "Concrete-cracker."
Dayo looked out of the window so his dad wouldn't see him smiling.
"Concrete-cracker," he agreed.
Word Definition
thrive
meaning
to grow or develop very well; to do well and be successful; to flourish in a particular situation or condition
synonyms
flourish · prosper · blossom · succeed · boom
antonyms
wither · decline
example sentence
The roses thrive in the sunny garden.