The Value Of Education For Me

I'm in a situation where it's either sit here and lose or fight back and prove my worth, but I never can because in order to do that, I'd have to be resilient and strong. Is that me or is it fear talking? I don't know anymore. These were my thoughts two years ago, when I was trying to pull myself out of a lonely dark well. My life so far has been one crazy ride, but with no regrets. This is because I use my lows as a motivator and it has driven me to be who I am today. I had way too many setbacks growing up and even though they weren’t tragic, they were definitely not easy to handle.

My father is a good person at heart but he had issues with anger management. He has come around now but when I was in middle school things were explosive. He used to verbally and physically abuse me for the smallest mistakes like not tying my shoelaces properly OR. . . . This DAMAGED my self esteem and made me walk into a cave where I would hide myself away from the world. I wouldn’t blame him for his behavior as HE had been unemployed for a while and it had taken quite a toll on him. Over that period, I not only learned how to live frugally, but also to appreciate the value of education. This experience also spurred me into thinking about what it would take for me to be a success later in life. Those thoughts were as deep as a bottomless pit and they form part of who I am now. That need to make it big in life is what was adding fuel to the burning fire inside me. I can confidently say that it has transformed me into a more conscientious and responsible person. We moved to Kenya in 2016 I used to be timid and never approached a group of new faces due to my unfortunate past. My self esteem was shattered as the memories of the worst moments in my life were etched in my mind. I felt like a fish on land, helpless and out of breath.

So, I sat down for about a month just thinking about this idea of perception and how it played a major role in everyone’s life. I started looking at everything from at least 3 perspectives subsequently. I learned to view the world with an open mind and to never judge anyone. I understood that no matter where in the world I may be, there will be people who are different and I can always learn something unique and enriching from everyone. This revolutionized my interaction with people as I opened up and became friendly with almost everyone in school.

Despite all the progress, I still face problems with frequent thoughts on how others viewed me, yet I can affirmatively say that I am a refined ambivert. My experiences from the setbacks during middle school also vitalized me to take rigorous courses and equip myself with skills from different fields. I bought a used $200 drum kit during Christmas break of 10th grade. The passion and love for the instrument took over me and I drummed endlessly. I sat for the Grade 5 LCM exam and passed with a Distinction. I will hopefully finish my Grade 8 exam by January 2019. That's how much effort I put into whatever I do and that is how desperate I am to make it big in life. This may sound surreal but it is how I transformed my challenges into a major positive. I can confidently say that attending university will help me significantly and I can assure you that I will contribute in a positive way to the well being of my fellow classmates.