Aiming for the Stars

"Nothing about my life is lucky. Nothing. A lot of grace, a lot of blessings... "- Oprah

I remember when I first came to Singapore from a 3rd world country, I couldn't even string two english sentences together. I came straight into Sec 3 (Express). And within 1.5 years I had to take GCE "O" Levels exam. At the end of Sec 3 final year exam, my English was a FAIL, a D7. Not very surprising. I only had another 6 months to make it. It was 'Swim or Sink', 'Do or Die'. My parents spent so much $ to send me oversea and I had spent 1.5 years in SG, if I failed my English, I'd be done for. We did not come from a privilege background, but my parents like to aim for the STARS and tried to give the best for the children.

I remember I started reading every single darn english books and magazines I could get hold of. I remember reading the newspapers daily and couldn't understand any bit. I remember asking myself why must newspaper articles be written in such difficult-to-read manner. I also bought plenty of assessment books and started learning how others write their compositions. Every day, every night, every waking hours, every weekends were just studying for English paper. It was not just English, I also took English Literature; Shakespeare, whose work I never read before in my entire life. I had no time for other subjects. You can imagine the STRESS.

But, by the end of 'O' Levels, I did not just pass all my subjects. I was the top 'O' Levels student of my secondary school scoring 7 distinctions (A) and a B. Yeah of course, that B was for my English paper. I was then accepted to National Junior College and subsequently NTU.

The beginning was a very tough challenge, and I overcame it, by sheer diligence and perseverance and a Never-Say-Die attitude. Not a strand of luck. Definitely not in writing compositions or comprehension. So I passed the 1st big challenge with flying colors. But little did I know, that was one of the easier challenges in my life.

Nothing about my life is lucky too. Nothing. A lot of courage, a lot of perseverance, a lot of failure, a lot of hard-knocks, a lot of trial and errors, a lot of pain, a lot of sweat, a lot of tears. Every single thing that I wanted to achieve I have to put into twice or thrice as much effort as others but I can truly say it is all worth it. Because the joy of living is in the trying and learning. All I need to know is that I have tried my best. All I need to know is I never give up.

As I look back, I can definitely say that the best times of my life is when I took the COURAGE to do the things that I have always wanted to do. Whether it is a success or a failure, that was besides the point. The real JOY is in knowing that I took the COURAGE, that I overcome my FEAR, that I overcome my own made-belief limitations.

To all who are struggling and feeling discouraged out there, I hope this little story of my little success and how I overcome my disadvantaged background can be an inspiration to you. If I, who came from a laopok, backward, 3rd world country can make it, so much more can YOU! All you need is to keep the Spark, the Hope and the Belief within you burning.

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