Several months ago, I read a post by 
Jessica’s story reminded me of another story that was told by my university teacher. The story was of one of her student, Alina (it’s a pseudonym), who studied in her department.
Once the department received an opportunity of scholarship by acquiring which the student would be able to go abroad for further studies. The seats were, however, limited. Thus a high competition was expected. Only the students with higher scores in their academics were likely to be selected.
Alina was average in her grades and scores. There were several students in her class with fascinating GPA (Grade Point Average) who could easily make the winning list.
The situation didn’t stop Alina to try out her luck. While the scholarship was free of cost, it required a lot of efforts to apply for it. There was a need to collect and attest several documents. She had to walk long distances in the university premises to collect documents and get the permissions and attestations from Deans and Head of the Departments. There were some other hassles in the process of application. Alina, despite evaluating the low chance of being selected, put her optimum efforts to avail the opportunity.
When the result for the scholarship was announced, Alina had won it and then she went abroad to fulfil her dreams.
It so happened that no one else in the department had applied for the scholarship due to its arduous and wearisome procedure. Consequently, there was no competitor for Alina to contend with on the ranking list. Being the sole applicant, she secured the scholarship.
From Alina’s story, it can be concluded that she was lucky that no one else was competing with her; if a high ranked student be there she wouldn’t be selected. Nevertheless, the conclusion would undermine the efforts Alina exerted. Had Alina not worked hard for completing the application process, would the luck be still favouring her? Wasn’t it her hard work that made the luck work for it?
I am not the one who dismiss the concept of luck or its existence. I firmly believe that luck does indeed exist. Luck is a Divine aspect of our lives in which we encounter various elements in our surroundings aligning in a specific direction at the most opportune moments.
Nevertheless, luck alone doesn’t guarantee success; it is our hard work that enable us to make the most of these opportunities. Thomas Jefferson has rightly said
I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
●●●●●●●
This post is my participation for Hive Learner’s featured contest prompt.