Beyond hopelessness.....

 Hope deferred can make a heart sick but one can choose to persevere.


I just watched ‘The Pursuit of Happiness” and it was a story I absolutely resonated with. Notably it was a story of resilience and endurance. 


The truth is we can plan and strategize our lives all we want but things can happen. It could be the cost of living crisis, it could be the death of a loved one or even bad weather. 


Such catastrophic events have the capacity to destroy our hopes if our minds aren’t grounded on a firm foundation. 


We must teach ourselves to be adaptable and open to working through all the challenges that life presents us with. Why? Because it is never over until we decide it is.


I’ll give one notable example in my personal life. I had applied to do a law degree to 5 different universities which were all in the AAA range. It was advised that we diversify our university choices; having some with higher grade expectations and lower. I had radical faith and ignored this advice.


 It was crazy because in my AS I had gotten the grades  BBC and thus had to petition to my sixth form office to bump my prediction up to AAA (I hadn’t even achieved one A.)


It was a real gamble yet I was simultaneously offered the opportunity to attain an Extended Project Qualification which could potentially help reduce my grade expectations from a university (if they were willing to). 


The University of Birmingham offered AAB if I got an A in my EPQ and without an EPQ AAA.


I completed my EPQ alongside my 3 A Levels, rugby training, community court volunteering and gym. Due to my poor administrative management I only got a C (which could have been very discouraging because it could help lower my grade expectations).


However, though my hope of getting an A in didn’t come to fruition I choose to persevere. I decided that I could not rely on anyone or anything and I worked tenaciously for high grades.


Long story cut short, I ended up leaving sixth form with the grades A* A A, exceeding the expectations of my desired university and my school.


I loved how bold and determined I was in my youth, now it’s my daily mission to keep that zeal and drive going for as long as I live on this earth.

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