CONTEST: a great teaching for life || perseverance || 30% payout to @steemimgcuration

Greetings everyone, special thanks to @steemimgcommunity for organizing this wonderful contest, and for all your immense support to everyone in the platform, we are indeed grateful.
Perseverance which simply means "to persist and not give up despite hardship, failures and discouragement" is one quality akin to great men. It is really important that we cultivate this attitude because great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. This is my story, I hope it inspires you to keep pushing on.

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News had gotten to my aunt about my inability to secure admission into the university even after sitting for the entrance exams twice, she was an academic and always guided and counseled members of the family who had problems securing admission, she summoned me and asked what I intended to study and what my dreams were.
I then expressed my dreams of studying civil engineering in one of the prestigious universities in the country to my aunt.

she just walked out on the conversation laughing mockingly, I heard her mutter something like "engineering isn't for people like you , it's for the smart and rich ones". She didn't know I heard her, it was really painful and demoralizing,I felt insulted and degraded.I walked up to her and told her I can, and will make it. She then explained how hard it was to get civil engineering, she said it was very much sought after by the children of the rich and influencial, she said since those children went to better high schools and had parents with influence, there was no way I stood a chance into such department . She said those Children were bound to be smarter and would definitely produce better results. She advised that I applied for a course with fewer applicants because I would stand a better chance there.

Being a Civil engineer has been my lifelong dream, even my neighbors and friends call me the engineer , I had nursed this ambition since I was a kid and I couldn't just see myself doing something else. I decided I wasn't going to let my dreams die like that, I took it upon myself as a challenge to prove my aunt wrong, I went to her and informed her of my final decision, she felt disappointed that I didn't take her advice and she angrily told me to leave her house. I remember her last words as I was leaving, she said " you will regret your actions, you're not good enough, you can't get civil engineering, we shall see" , I left her house and immediately went to purchase the application forms before her negative words would make me chicken out.

I started studying for the entrance exam, I read like my life depended on it, day and night, sometimes I would go without food, I attended several tutorials and read several books, It was no longer just about trying to secure admission to study engineering, the words of my aunt was etched on my mind,I couldn't just afford to let her words come to pass, I needed to prove her wrong, I wanted to change her ideology and that narrative of engineering being for children of the elite. I knew I was capable and could make it .

Few weeks after I wrote the exam, I got a call from my aunt , she had checked my results even before I did, she congratulated me and called me " the engineer", I was excited, I thought I had gained the admission into the university, I didn't know she was only mocking me because I didn't make the list, I was really devastated, I cried for days , I was ashamed of myself and couldn't even face my aunt.

Another year came, my parents had advised that I followed the instructions of my aunt this time,I told them that I would but I didn't, I wanted to give engineering one last shot and I did. I sat outside with my parents one day when I got a mail from the University, I opened it and found out that it was an admission letter, I was just about to rejoice when my eyes caught the part that said " you have been admitted to study chemistry", they said it was because my score wasn't good enough for civil engineering. It was my fourth trial so my parents forced me to accept the admission and begin the study of chemistry. I got depressed, I thought I was a failure and would have to kiss my dreams goodbye.

While still in school studying chemistry, I still didn't lose heart, I felt it was better late than never, I read a few stories about great men like Thomas Edison and I found out that they all passed through tough times and failure, I got strengthened once again. Without the knowledge of my parents I got the application form and decided to try again for the last time, although I read the hardest this time and I had now become experienced in those exams, I still didn't believe myself. I felt things would just turn out like they always did. I wrote my best but didn't bother to check the results . Some weeks later, I got a call from my aunt, she started apologizing for the hurtful things she said years back, I really didn't understand why she was apologizing until she said she saw my name on the cover page of a newspaper and I have been giving a scholarship to study engineering in any University of my choice because I got the best result in the state that year.

Here I am currently studying civil engineering in the university of Nigeria (UNN), it's a dream come true. I am so happy and fulfilled, I am so glad I didn't give up. In my neighborhood, my story has now become a source of inspiration and motivation to young people, they now believe they can achieve their dreams if only they persevere and not give up.

Life has taught me that great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.

To show my gratitude and also support this community , I will be given out 30% of the payout of this post to the community

I am inviting my friends @zekea, @sokabomb, @amaka06 and @sammypoet to participate