During my first year in school, I faced a major academic and financial challenge that made me strongly believe I would have to repeat NCE 1. At that time, I had not yet paid my school fees and, as a result, I was not issued a matriculation number, which is required for official academic records.
Despite this situation, I continued to attend lectures, participate actively in class, and complete all tests and assignments. I often performed well, earning good scores, but many of my course mates discouraged me. They repeatedly told me that without a matriculation number, my efforts would not be recorded and that I was wasting my time. However, I chose not to listen to them. Something within me kept pushing me to keep going and do my best regardless of the circumstances. I approached my work with the mindset that I was doing it for learning, even though I was prepared to repeat the level if it came to that.
Less than two weeks before the examinations, my school fees issue was finally resolved, and I was able to complete my payment. One week before the examinations, I received my matriculation number and immediately took responsibility by approaching my lecturers individually. I respectfully explained my situation and pleaded with them to reconsider my earlier assessments. Fortunately, about 80 percent of the lecturers reviewed my work and assessed my scores.
Many of my course mates who were in a similar situation had already given up and did not make the same effort. When the examination results were released, I was shocked, amazed, and extremely grateful to discover that I had no carryover courses. Even more surprising was the fact that I emerged with the highest grade point in my class, achieving a CGPA of 4.7. This experience reinforced my belief in perseverance consistency.
