"I hope to be successful in life," the majority of high school and college students would say that if they were asked to make a wish. Well, I was no different than the other students who wanted to succeed, but I had no idea how it would happen.
On a Monday morning, I remember getting up late to get ready for high school. Between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m., all students are required to arrive for school. I jumped out of bed like Usain Bolt and dashed to the bathroom, sped through my bath like Flash, and rushed out without breakfast, hoping to make it to school on time.
However, on my way to school, I was caught in traffic, which was terrible because I was hungry and there would be a large plot of land waiting for me to cut as a penalty for being late. I was surprised to see my favorite instructor, the Physics teacher, waiting for me at the school gate. While the others were being punished, she allowed me to go to the assembly ground.
As I approached the assembly ground, which was rapidly filling up, my principal introduced a woman from a non-governmental group. She delivered a powerful speech to the entire school about a high school assembly that would place outside of the country. I laughed it off right away because scams like this exist to exploit children and parents with no end in sight. I took the flier anyways because it was shared around, but I had no interest.
We had to write exams to participate in the school and state selection, it was a big event among my classmates, I wasn't interested in the competition.My friend said to me during a break period that there was no harm in trying, and that it was preferable to see what happens after trying .
So, with no expectations, I decided to give it a shot just like every other student in the school, I took the inter-school examinations to determine candidates, and my name was selected as the second of the top three candidates to take the state exams.
I was called out in the devotional ground for the first time in my life to be announced for something big; it felt great, and it gave me a taste of what success felt like. It gave me the encouragement I needed to study for the state examinations.
We had to read a position paper written from the perspective of a certain country; mine was Malta.
When I arrived at the state examination venue for the state examinations, I was extremely worried because it was going to be an oral examination for everyone at the same time. After the first question was asked, the room became silent. I knew the answer, but I was afraid to speak since I didn't want to raise my hands. Finally, a girl spoke up, and while her response wasn't the most exact, she tried.
At this time, I mustered the courage to raise my hand, and I was granted permission to speak. I stood up and began speaking, though my tone was a little unsteady at first. It grew normal as time passed.
For every question asked, I had something extra to add because I had done extra research on the topic and it made me feel good. The oral examination was done and the results were expected to be out in two weeks.
Two weeks??..I said to myself, that it was going to provide enough time for manipulation of results, so I forgot about it.
Two weeks later, the same woman returned back to my school, this time my principal who barely smiled had a big grin on his face. I knew someone had won from my school because the other guys I went with did very well too. The devotion ended and my principal announced how excited he was about those who represented the school, the woman went on to call the name of the student who won.
She called my name, actually my full name and almost immediately my classmates gathered me to celebrate with me. It felt like a dream but that was a great feeling. I came up to receive my success letter and also a photograph was taken while the entire school clapped for me.
My popularity in school went from 0-100 very quick..My shoulder pads were so right, everyone was talking about me and my success in school. I got home and told my parents who were very excited about the news. It progressed very quickly from the acceptance of my success letter to meeting the commissioner of education in the state with the other kids who were successful too. It was big for me because my relatives, family friends and classmates called to tell me that they saw me on state TV with the commissioner.
I realised this wasn't a scam or prank anymore, it was real and it was going to happen. My state government was going to sponsor the trip to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA. It was so crazy for me to believe
I had to go to US embassy in Abuja for a visa interview which went well, everyone on the team got a 6 months visa while I got two years..It was just another win for me.
I got back home, I had to prepare my cloths, vaccinations and work on my research papers as I was going to represent "Tanzania" under the International Atomic energy agency (IAEA) in the National High School modern United Nations (NHSMUN) in the United states.
It was my first international flight and I was going to visit one of the greatest City in the world. It was so unreal yet it was happening. It was a very long trip with stop over at Frankfurt airport in Germany, then another flight to JFK airport, New York.We could not believe it was real, it felt like we were still in Nigeria until we stepped outside and felt the first wave of cold. We felt it was the normal Nigerian weather, mild cold but this was a cold room😭
It was a great feeling, we got to our hotel room, we had a tour of the city, I saw the statue of liberty, Times square and many cool places. We tried different meals and restaurants in the city.
The conference was a success, I had represented my country very well, I had inputs in the resolution papers that was submitted at the General Assembly, I made new friends and represented my state and country on a global level
It was my first taste of success while growing up and it was just my catalyst for believing in myself, taking chances that comes my way, gratitude and celebrating my wins in Life.
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