BEING HONEST ABOUT WHO YOU ARE IS THE SUREST WAY FORWARD!!
Hello folks, thanks for taking some time off to read this introductory message - a true life story. Despite how hurtful this may be to me, I am prepared to share, perhaps, it might be a motivation to us and collectively we can motivate ourselves and make it together. Though I’m new here, I believe this platform is like no other and has come to make life wonderful in many ways; you don’t just end up making a decent income but get to read ideas and discoveries from some of the best brains around the globe - Kudos to the people behind this great community.
The name is Jibrill K. Gariba from Ghana and I’m happy to have found this innovative community of wonderful people…..
I’m certain I’m in the right place.
To start with, during my high school days, I always wanted to school abroad for my tertiary education and the first country I considered was the United States. I considered this choice as both an opportunity and at the same time a big challenge. After several years of living and schooling in an environment where there was no electricity - the only light available was a touch light and candle – and in an environment where children were not encourage to attend school
(Not even one of these kids - my Nieces and Nephews - are in school)
However, I managed to graduate from Junior high school and got admission to one of the finest secondary school in Accra – the capital of Ghana - where I was to compete with students from wealthy homes and with good educational background from international schools within the urban region. This was quite a big challenge for me considering the transition; how much more would I manage to compete with students from much more developed country-USA- from such a background.
For someone who couldn’t even afford tuition fees in high school planning of traveling abroad for tertiary education was a scaring move. It was obvious I can’t make it without a Full Ride Scholarship even with that, it will still be difficult to get funding for visa application, SEVIS fees and air ticket. After several search, I realized my best bet would be to apply to some IVY LEAGUE schools such as Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania. I was however stuck when I noticed the competitiveness of these schools. I made up my mind to try them out with other colleges such as Colby-Sawyer College, Fisk University and Quincy College in MA. Being the founder and president of a club which featured in one of the local newspapers with several other extracurricular, fair grades, SAT score, great recommendations etc, I was a bit confident than scared at this time.
Several weeks later after submitting my application, admission decisions started pouring in and the more I receive the admission decision the more heart broken I got. I got REJECTED from Harvard, Yale, and Upen-my top schools.
However, I was accepted to Fisk, Quincy College and Colby-Sawyer College with the highest need based financial aid package - $ 37,300 full tuition scholarship. At this time, it was a mix feeling of happiness and sadness. I was happy because most of my colleagues would have wished for such package and the fact that I got the highest aid. On the other hand, I was sad because the means to go wasn’t there. The only hope I had was my doctor uncle in the US who promised me heaven and earth and got me disappointed after he noticed the $12,000 living expenses I had to pay. I vividly remember the question he asked me “is your father a COACOA farmer or a POLITICIAN? How are you going to afford $12,000?” I was as shocked as speechless – I learnt never to trust human been since then; he made me felt the admissions and scholarship I had wasn’t even worth it. Got me discouraged and didn’t know where to even start from again. I then decided to enroll in the university here in Ghana but only to end up discontinued because of financial constraint despite straight A’s with a ‘B’ in my college work. This is a typical African society: a society we have created for ourselves where the rich and the politically connected people get anything they want only for the poor to keep on declining in every aspect of life; education, wealth job etc.
Fetching water for the home -my home my prestige
Despite these challenges, I never got discouraged and I never doubted the fact that I will be rich and a great leader someday. I know I will break through but just can’t figure out how it will happen. Nobody achieves success of any measure without having some bruises to show for them right? I kept on encouraging myself that the hassles am going through are not failure if I persist and persevere until I get it right. Who knows, through these, I might discover something great that will impact the world positively or perhaps be the next Bill Gates. Success will only come if I put in the require quota of effort.
The following piece from Abraham Lincoln has always being my greatest motivation.
At 21 years of age, he failed in business
At 22, he was defeated in the election for assembly
At 24 years of age, he again tasted failure in business
At 26, his lover passed away
At 27 years of age, he was in deep mental agony
At 34, he was defeated in congress election
At 45 years of age, he was defeated for senate election
At 47, he was defeated in election for Vice-President
At 47, he was again defeated in the senate election
At 52, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of United States of America
There is no doubt that every great person have gone through a lot of difficulties and failures in their lifetime. Abraham Lincoln is not alone; Let take the case of Thomas Edison, the inventor of electric bulb; he confessed recording close to 10,000 failed experiments before getting it right after many years of dedication and perseverance. I know with certainty that I am also not alone; there is someone out there who’s also fighting his/her way out – everybody is a hero of his own story.
LIFE IN AFRICA
Let me borrow this quote from Smart - a friend - who once said “every morning in Africa, the Gazelle wakes up, it knows it has to run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning, the Lion wakes up and it knows it must run faster than the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Gazelle or Lion, when the sun comes up, you better be running….”
I should say how fast or slow one needs to run depends one ones economic situation and the direction where one is moving-no matter how fast one runs, if you keep running in the wrong direction, you will certainly keep getting to the wrong direction.. I am running but just don’t know when I will stop running, rest, and recall on all the journeys I embarked.
AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE
Is it that I’m not running in the right direction or there are some economic or perhaps other factors I don’t know of affecting me negatively or the right time for me to come out of the tunnel hasn’t arrive yet? So many questions than answers….. HOW WILL IT HAPPEN? I guess I will get some directions and advises right here.
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION - ON MY WAY HOME
While surviving on bread and honey on daily basis, I concluded education wasn’t the ONLY way to the top and I can’t keep on blaming people for my situation. This is the reality and I needed to face it. I then got myself a freelance job in a telecom industry but couldn’t save a dime after several months of work. I then entered the online community, got some work from home jobs and several other opportunity to make it BIG but got scammed by heartless humans. I tried Forex but didn’t see the light of day. Now am considering binary options since I’ve been able to discover a strategy that really works using the demo – haven’t open an account yet. Still testing the reliability of this strategy and hoping to get some cash to kick of pretty soon.
I strongly believe with this binary options strategy and the involvement of this awesome community-the love, the concern and the advises and opportunity I will get from here, I will certainly come out of the tunnel and see the day light.
I thank you all….