I am 
Everyone has a specific way of handling the outcome of every engagement. I have received several compliments, some of which I will prefer remain private. While thinking which one of them is the greatest—is it the one in finance? or my academic performance? I thought about which of them was more suitable to share, so I went with my academic performance. Growing up in a rural area makes it really difficult to get a perfect education, considering the cost of tuition at private schools and the money earned by parents. My parents were not so buoyant to send me to one of those private schools, and even though they were, I still had other siblings who my parents had to fend for.
Situations being what they were, I was sent to a public school in my neighborhood. I had to play my role as a student and study really hard to be able to keep up with high school syllables. After a successful final exam in high school, it was left for me to secure admission in a tertiary institution. At this point, I waited for one year to be able to purchase a JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculation Board) form. During that time of waiting, I went into full-time farming. I was busy to the point where I didn't remember where I kept my books. For months, I was able to generate some money for my first year in school.
After not reading my books for months, it was time for registration for JAMB. I told my dad I couldn't stay in the environment and prepare for exams. The funny thing is, there are just three weeks until the exams commence, and this is when I just started my preparations. It's not like I started reading immediately; I only made plans to travel and join my sister to prepare for the exams. My dad accepted, and I traveled. Going to meet my sister, I toiled day and night reading for the exams.
The cutoff point for the tertiary institution I was applying to was 180, but that was not the criteria for getting any course of my choice. The course I aspired to was a bit competitive, and they admit only from 210 and above. I was scared of failing because of the time I had to read. I didn't let the fear hold me back; I had to put more effort into studying. It was now time for me to write the exams, which I did, and to my greatest surprise, I scored above 210. When I told my parents, they were really happy and congratulated me.
After processing all other requirements needed for the admission, I had to wait for the list to be released. As it was due, the list was released, and I merited the admission and was admitted to study Human Anatomy in my preferred institution. When the information got to my dad, he praised me this time around and said,
Even with all the farm work, you were still able to gain admission.
I can't stop thinking of that particular day; I believe that among all the compliments, this should be the greatest.
Having this experience made me understand that attending a low standard high school or institution is not a criteria by which a student wouldn't be successful academically. More to the point, an individual's current level does not determine the future of the individual.
Thank you for reading!!
