Through the years I've had loads of experience and as well seen situations that made me realize that giving up isn't an option and that's it's not over until it's over. I've come to learn that our destiny is in our hands, and we can always make a difference to change difficult situations around to favor us if and only if we believe in ourselves and are ready to commit ourselves to that course. The situation of one of my students affirms that, and each time I see him or think about how he turns his stormy tides around, I can't help but feel motivated, and I hope you do after reading this.
As a teacher, I've come across countless students while in service, and one of those students stories inspired me. At the time he came to the school, he was poor academically, and that makes us wonder how he was promoted to that stage. Well, since he's already here, we've got no choice but to teach him alongside others and hope he catches up, even though at that stage it's surprising that he can't read or write, and then he wasn't helping too.
Rather than stay focused in class, he'll rather run out of the class and mingle with bad students who hide in the jungle and play rather than stay in class to learn what he came to do. To cut a long story short, at the time of the examination and conclusion of that year's academic section, he ended up failing and having to repeat the same class again while most of his previous classmates got promoted to the next class.
The following year's academic section didn't change a bit despite the effort of his parents and teachers to talk sense into his as he ended up repeating once again, so while he's in the same class for two years and going into the third year, his first classmates are already sitting for their first school leaving certificate that'll take them to the university. I guess at this point reality has dawned on him that he has misled himself.
He began to feel remorseful for his act, but out of shame, he decides he'll quit school and go learn a skill. He believes that at least that way he won't be too oppressed by the sight of his colleagues who are doing their better, but I and some other teachers decided to talk to him once again when he came with his parents to withdraw from the school and begin to learn a skill.
We let him know that although it's a good thing that he's at least now thinking about his life and wanting to make a difference so his future won't be in shambles, we told him that it's important that he at least have some basic knowledge academically, and we went on to tell him why that's important even though he's learning a skill.
Letting him know that reading and writing will show up in his job, and not knowing how to do that at the basic level will make him lose customers, and even if he decides to employ someone who has the knowledge to work under him, he won't be able to know when he's been defrauded by the person because he has no knowledge about writing and reading. At the end of the day, he sees this in the same light as us and decides to be serious with his academics at least till he graduates from high school.
And believe me, he went from being a student who regularly comes last to being in the top 10 in a class of 80 students. It's not like this happened in a day; it was a gradual process section by section, and his new-found resilience and commitment to get better pushed him beyond his expectations to the point where he started to join students who represent the school in quizzes and sports competitions, and he won us loads of awards.
By the time he was in SS3 and ready to sit for his first school leaving certificate examination, he was so fed up with his studies that he decided to further his education to the university level, unlike he had initially intended that he'd stop his education at that level and focus on the skills he's acquiring simultaneously at that time.
Presently he's in the university the last time I saw him, and while being a student and doing well, he has already mastered his craft in the clothes-making field and now has a big store where he even employs other fashion designers to work under him. His story is an inspiration to many, and I usually use it to motivate my students so they won't settle for less because of the situation at hand, because, as it is commonly said, if you can dream it, then you can have it.
All photos taken and edited on canva.