Many times we get carried away by the words of people we trust, people we admire and even our own teachers. Even the words of people we live with daily can do us great harm and leave a mark on us. Not all people will encourage you to reach your goals, and many of them will discourage you. But, this is not a story to discourage you, just to make you believe in yourself despite what others may say about you. For this, I will tell you my story.
It was my last year of high school. I was close to graduating. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t the best student. I was more like the class clown. Without a doubt, I made my classmates laugh. One day in chemistry class, I was told to ask the professor to give us permission to study for an important exam, and so I did. I raised my hand and asked the professor if my classmates and I could do a review for the exam.
First, he adjusted his glasses, looked at me intently and said: “You? You will never get into college.”
Believe me, I remember those words so well.
But now, I smile because, at that moment, I thought the same as him. I never thought I would get this far. I never mentioned it to anyone at the time, not even to my family. I was afraid and I was ashamed.
Thank God my friends defended me. It’s good to know there are people who support you, even in the most embarrassing moments. Nobody deserves to be spoken to like that in front of so many people. As true as it may be, nobody deserves to be told they’re not worthy enough to achieve certain things.
As the years went by, I never stopped thinking about this distinguished professor. I believed everything they told me at school, the place where they were supposed to prepare me to face the world. I had so little self-esteem. I had teachers who compared me to my family, who told me it was better not to try to get into college to pursue my dreams. And I believed it.
Well, the best thing about this whole story is that I got over it. I decided not to take it as something bad. I decided to take it like when you have fans and haters. In this case, I had many haters (just kidding). But, I did have people who didn’t believe in me. And, opinions matter in the academic and work fields.
It’s necessary to get the best grades during school because they will help you in your academic future. But, let me tell you, the best grades don’t define you as a person. Some talents aren’t developed in school. Some things aren’t taught in school. But, that doesn’t mean because you get the worst grades, you will not go far. If you are reading this, and you are still in school, get the best grades. I don’t want you to stop studying. Always give your best.
Guess what, I managed to graduate from high school. And I managed to get into many universities. But that’s not the best thing. I came to study in one of the countries with the best education in the world. That’s right, the United States.
If you ever receive a bad comment from a loved one, from a teacher, from someone famous, or from someone you don’t even know, don’t be discouraged. I know it hurts, but the worst thing you can do is let it consume you. Do the opposite, grow, learn to recognize your mistakes and be better than you were in the past because improving for yourself is the best thing that can happen to you in life.
It’s sad, yes, I’m not going to lie to you. Many times after school, I questioned myself if I was enough to finish high school. When I got into college and returned home, I asked myself if I was enough to be in those classrooms. And, even here, in one of the first-world countries, I kept asking myself the same thing. It seemed to never end. But as I was saying, I got over it. You want to know how? Don’t think bad things about yourself, and realize how far you’ve come. Many times, we will find ourselves far from where we want to be, but it doesn’t matter. Life is not only about achieving goals, having the biggest business, the best company, and being more successful. Of course, I want those things, too. But life is about enjoying it, being grateful, looking around and feeling lucky. That is the greatest success. You will make it, just trust God.
If you’ve been through this, or you’re going through this, the best thing you can do is work silently towards your goals. After all, the road will never be easy. You will receive a lot of criticism. But, the best thing you can do is prove to yourself – not to them – to yourself that you can go much further than you thought.
Have some faith. Don’t give up.
