During my earlier high school period, I was not very focused on my studies since I was very outgoing and I spent most of my time engaging in sports and hanging out with my friends. In class, I would not concentrate for more than two minutes before drifting into my thoughts regarding activities outside the classroom. I have four siblings, and I am the fourth born. I performed average in my exams, and I did not see the need to work very hard to achieve high grades in my classwork.
Early during my final year in school, my father lost his job, and this was a huge blow to the family. At this point, all of my siblings were in school, and my father was the one who catered for our tuition fees. At home, things became difficult following the loss of income by one of my parents and we started seeing changes around the house due to the new reality.
At first, I did not get very concerned with the changes until one evening when my parents walked into my room and wanted to discuss with me my progress. In an affirming tone, my parents mentioned to me that they would not sacrifice to take me to college if I did not improve my grades since there was a financial strain in the family’s finances and they are willing to support those who show the desire to work hard.
The statement hit me very hard, and that night I was not able to sleep as I stayed up thinking of what will happen to my future if I did not get to progress with my studies. I must say this was a turning point for me since I decided to make drastic changes from that point forward regarding my studies.
The change was significant to me since it made me acknowledge the value of education and hard work. From that point until now I see the need of appreciating every opportunity in life. I learnt the lesson that education and hard work are the pillars of life and without dedication one may fail to realize their goals in life.
