Firstly, all I can say is that we are all born in this world for a special purpose. None of us is a waste, so don’t be a prisoner of your past but rather be the architect of your future.

I have dealt with every challenge in my life on my own. I remember when I was growing up, my mom was not working, so I had to be the one who went around the village every day begging for food. Some days I was lucky, some I was not. But that did not destroy me, because I picked myself up and got stronger each day.

My mom passed away but she left me with these words: “Always remember that school must be your first priority and always live life with a willing heart.”

This helped me to get stronger each day.

I passed Grade 9 with great results and went to high school. My aunt took me in to live with her and I studied in a township school.

The first year of high school was not easy at all – meeting so many new faces. I failed Grade 10 and afterwards I cried myself to sleep. I even told my aunt that I was not going back to school the coming year – failing for the first time in your life can be disturbing, especially given the fact that I had passed all the terms before that last term in the December.

My aunt encouraged me to go back, and so I did the following year. Life has taught me a thing: failure is part of the process of success. Eventually I passed with good results and went to the next grade. I passed that easily and then I was in grade 12.

The final year in high school taught me that success is not a destination, rather it is a long journey with even more travel ahead. Then came that moment when I was waiting for my results. The results came. It was early in the morning. I received an SMS. This said I had passed matric with an admission for a Bachelor’s degree. I did not know what to do – whether to cry or scream. I was overwhelmed.

All the things that  happened in my life made me realise that school is life. We are all here to learn and to solve the problems that we have with faith and love, through the circle of life. We need to keep all the lessons we have learned – these will last us for a lifetime.

So, believe in yourself and then you will be unstoppable. I still believe that I will be something in life, even though I did not get in to university this year. I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.

No one gets a sudden rise. Even the sun takes some time to rise. Stabilise your life with a positive approach each day… Eventually rapture caught me. Who knew that I would be this happy in life. I am honoured to say that God is great.

Amen.