Last Child of Fourteen (14) Kids – Ladies of Hive Contest #52

I grew up as the last born child of 14 kids. Although I had a lot of siblings, I was not really close to any growing up.

I was pretty much in the shadows.

I navigated through school super perplexed, trying to figure out what it truly meant to be a girl child. I was told my role was to fit into a particular box of what society expects of a female.

...I fought!

I fought because I knew I was so much more than the norm and I had way too much in me to offer.

The goal is to leave this earth empty.

I had seen close female family members stick to the status quo for fear of ‘what would people say or fear of failing and getting the ‘I told you so feedback’. I didn’t care about what people had to say neither was I scared of failing.

Hey! At least I gave it a shot, I learned, and I am going to get up, give it as many shots as I can, and do it differently until I succeed.

That’s my spirit! That’s the kind of attitude I promote!

And so, this experience impacted me positively in ways I am still uncovering. I became a goal-oriented, driven, focused, disciplined, kind-hearted, empathic, self-aware, self-motivated, and independent young girl.

I went from being average in class to be the following;

Miss My High School Beauty Pageant Queen 2011.
Best Graduating Student 2012
Best in Music & French
Best in Table Tennis & Long Distance Race (1500m) in my high school

I did not stop there as I went further to the University to study a 4-year program and was awarded the following after my second (2nd) year;

A 1-year all-expense paid scholarship by the United States government as a foreign exchange student (2014)
After completion of my 1-year exchange studies, I came out as a two-time Deans Honor Roll Awardee for the 2 semesters of my exchange and was made Valedictorian (2015)

On return from the USA and further completion of my 4-year program in my home country,

I graduated with First Class Honors & as the Overall Best in my program (International Relations and Diplomacy-2017)
Best in my Department (Political Science and International Relations)
Top 10 Best Students in the 2017 Graduating Set in my First Degree.

I began to mentor and speak to other ladies about breaking the norm and setting high standards for the world to follow in their respective fields regardless of their gender.