Steemit Community Contest| At My Strongest Moment| @timi99

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We all as human beings face one challenge or another at various points in our lives. No one ever has a smooth sail throughout their lifetime. Sometimes, these situations are beyond our control and we feel hopeless and doubtful, but let's all remember that there's always light at the end of the tunnel. These trials,
no matter how long they last, would not go on forever. They only prepare us for what's ahead, and make us strong enough to clear any hurdles we may come across in the future. Facing difficulties is only human, it's how we handle such situations, that matter the most.

A personal experience that comes to mind was at the point when I had to enrol and commence my A-level classes, in preparation for the final exams which was to gain me entry into my desired institution and course of study, this was sometime in 2019. Prior to that time, I had received a lot of discouraging remarks from people who had previously passed through the programme and sat for the exams. I often heard things like "you can't do it, it's too tough", "you may not get in for your desired course, the requirements are too high", "the programme is a gamble". All these, coupled with the pressure from home to finish up with the required results, was so overwhelming. I really didn't blame my parents though, the programme was quite an expensive one and it was only fair that they got value for their money. I was determined to do them proud, I put in a lot of effort and worked really hard to fulfil this dream, but sadly, all the comments which I had earlier received, were true.

The programme was a lot to handle, I had to study a total of 12 courses within a period of 9months. I had given up on the realisation of this because it seemed almost impossible to achieve such within that time frame. It was even harder, as it was a non-residential programme, so I had to travel to and from home daily. This weighed in on me greatly, I had to meet up with a bunch of assignments, group presentations and constant reading of bulky materials. The school had limited slots for admission in comparison with the number of candidates who enrolled for the programme, just about 50% of us were to make it in. This was no surprise as the school received a high number of applications yearly for admission and it was only logical that entry into the institution would be extremely competitive.

I remember not performing up to expectation in my first semester exams, I felt really sad and disappointed in myself because all my other friends performed better than I did. But I didn't let this discourage me, rather, it served as a source of motivation. I picked myself up, went back to the drawing board, figured out my mistakes, learnt from those mistakes and dedicated more time to my reading. I also worked on managing my time, as this was an issue for me as well. The covid lockdown started, so we had to stop attending physical classes and all classes for the second semester were now transfered to an online learning platform, but this was not as effective as the physical classes, we mostly tutored ourselves for that semester, the lecturers did the little they could by sending us reading materials from time to time. I did the best I could and went ahead to sit for the final exams, I was optimistic that the results were going to be satisfactory, although I still had little doubts here and there as a result of the reports I had received. Regardless, I kept my fingers crossed and hoped for the best.

About two months later, the results were released, I had performed exceedingly well and attained maximum points in the exams. I had never felt more fulfilled than I was at that moment, all the late nights and extra reading hours finally paid off. I'm sharing this story so that it serves as a source of motivation to others who are currently facing similar situations. Never give up, keep fighting no matter how difficult the situation might seem to be. Just like I did, with hard work, consistency and determination, you'd eventually succeed. Always stay positive, tell yourself that you can do it, don't let the opinions of others discourage you from achieving your dreams. Most importantly, pray, God actually answers prayers and He'd answer yours in His own time. Hang in there, your success story is on its way.

I hope you enjoyed reading this just as I have enjoyed writing. Thanks to @steemingcuration for this wonderful platform
I invite my friends @spyrex @nore21 @alphafx to participate and share their stories as well.