So many times I just get reminded of my predicament, it's been over 6 years since I last finished my secondary school and by now I should be finished with my higher institution but sadly I'm yet to see the four walls of the university but almost all of my classmates back in secondary School are all done with their tertiary institution and are even married now.
I made so many wrong choices and now I'm suffering for them I guess. The higher institution here in my country and even else where is a place that people expect you to be in once you are done with your secondary school and if you are not, then you will suffer emotionally and psychologically for it. Everyday I get to see on WhatsApp statuses of friends how they've done their matriculation and even graduation.
The most intimidating part of all of these is that I'm older than most of them and that has made me feel like I'm not lucky and fortunate enough (this is obviously not true though). People keep reminding me of how I should study harder for my next examination and make sure to get into the university because all my mates are there and it just makes me feel like I'm not interested in doing anything for myself.
Most times people don't even talk, just their actions speak even louder than their words. At some point I was so down and I started looking for who and what to blame for my situation but in the end I found no one other than myself to blame because I believe that if only I had done better just once maybe things would have been different. I was going into depression by the day but somehow I just find myself back to sanity (it was God).
After two years of staying at home, I decided to look for other things to engage myself in so I don't get too idle and give room for unnecessary thoughts. I believed that at least if the university was not for me then, I shouldn't just succumb to whatever comes, I should at least try out other things and try to be happy still. Since I was good at making hair, I took that seriously and use that to support myself and my family too. I was busy most of the time so I didn't had the time to make the societal pressure get to me too much.
And even while I was doing that, I still kept trying my best to get into the university and surprisingly I'm still yet to get admission till date. Well, I know that some would expect me to give up but I do believe that I'm going to get my admission at the right time so I'd keep trying until that happens. I know some people might have given up on me by now but I know that one day I'd go home with a certificate as a university graduate.
In all of these, I'm still learning as much as I can on a daily basis and thanks to the fact that I'm now a content creator on Hive, things has improved for me a lot that it's even hard for people to believe that I'm not yet a graduate and that is due to how much I keep trying to improve on myself. Like they say, never let your background let your back touch the ground. I believe that no matter how long it takes, what I've worked for will surely pay off some day.
The only way I'm able to completely combat societal pressure is through the help of God. I doubt if I'd still be sane if not for God, he has always given me the right people at every phase of my life and I do believe that he has a plan for my life so I can't just give up or give in to what people think or say. I know what I want and that is for me to go to the university but that is going to be done as genuinely as possible, I don't want any compromise no matter what.
This is my response to the Hivelearners editional prompt 2 on "Societal Pressure" and I'm glad to have you stop by.