Push Further

Photo by Vlada Karpovich:

As the final years of my secondary school education approached, My heart burned with a dream for my future. I swear that I could already see the path before me. It was clear and bright, it was filled with anticipation. But has my dream been achievable, or has it remained a mere fantasy for me?

"You're going to be the youngest PhD student in your family" I had always reminded myself back in secondary school.

Education, to me, was not merely a stepping stone but that ladder that I dreamt to climb. My dream was to pursue education to its peak. My hopes and dreams were clear like a crystal: complete my bachelor's degree and push further immediately for a master's. Eventually at a young age become a PhD holder.

I could remember vividly the day I threw my graduation cap in the air. It wasn't just a symbol to show my accomplishment but a bridge to actualising what I had always longed for. I wished to push immediately to university. I was eager and ready to embark on that journey I had so longed for, for years.

But of course fate had its own plans, and like always it was different from what I had paid out already.

The following after secondary school was a frustrating standstill. Years of not being proud of myself. The acceptance letter from the university I wished for never arrived early. I found myself for years confined to the four walls of my father's house, the ticking clock a constant reminder of my young dreams slipping away.

I fought hard in the tempest of disappointment.

In the face of my problems; I had to make a choice. Either i succumb to despair, accept defeat, and surrender his dreams to the void of time. Or I pushed further.

"Maybe I wasn't good enough with this education thingy" I doubted myself at intervals.

But was that who I was ?. Was that what I wanted? What exactly did I want? And if I gave up, how was I going to accomplish it?

All these questions gave me hope; It made me realise I needed to be resilient in my dreams; I needed to stay focused. I needed to stay on course, on that path that required so much patience, persistence, and an unwavering belief in myself. I needed to push further!.

Finally, my years of patience and perseverance were over, the long-awaited acceptance letter arrived. A moment of triumph for, a realisation of my dreams might be just starting.

"Yes!" I screamed in excitement. Although the letter came late, but, it was better to be late than never.

Then my journey to the university began, but i was blindly aware of the hurdles that lay ahead of me, especially the financial hurdle. It constantly threatened to derail my pursuit, it hovered like a dark cloud over my horizon.

The road wasn't easy, the obstacles were there, they were glaring. The high cost of tuition fees, the expenses for survival as a student. A huge shadow to achieving my dreams.

But I have tasted lemons before, and I have made lemonades out of them. I have tasted bitterness before and I have made sweeteners out of it. I am not ready to let this one deter me. My idea still remains to keep pushing further. Stronger and harder, with unwavering determination.

In the grand scheme called life, I greatly wish that when I finally achieve what I want, that, stories like mine would be a constant reminder to people that their hopes and dreams are not fragile; they are resilient, enduring, and ultimately, they are attainable, but only to those who dare to believe and chase their dreams with unyielding resolve.

Maybe not now, maybe not today. But surely, one day.