Personal Narrative: My Strength is My Self-confidence and Faith

I thoroughly enjoyed writing this free personal narrative essay, as it allowed me to express my unique experiences and perspectives in a creative and introspective manner.Growing up through a harsh educational system in Ghana, going to school was always a bitter experience for me. Even though I was usually on top of my class, I hated school, entering the classroom was a taboo for me, I would rather build my model of the stripped chassis from empty cans and cut out rubber slippers to play with, with the street children. It was moments like these that brought me excitement, for us, at least we had something to replace the electric toy cars we couldn’t have and ultimately, do something we appreciated rather than be forced into the prison called school. As we run down the pathway chasing my contrivance, our faces were filled with excitement, I was proud of these happy because I was able to put smiles on the faces people I knew little about.

I spent nearly fifteen years of my life, listening to confused teachers. Teachers who were usually angry partly because they had little salaries and at worst the government delayed in paying them. Perhaps, they fought with their wives the night before, I do not know but they usually lashed out their anger on students for no tangible reason. They were aggressive in several ways, an experience that put an unending fear of teachers in. Whenever I close my eyes, I hear the whips of canes, I see tears from the students around me, I see trigonometric, polynomial, binomial and all the equations and formulae you could ever imagine. This was because the yardstick for measuring knowledge and intelligence in our school was “chew and pour” and I hated it. All these were contrary to what was happening in other parts of the globe where young people at my age were changing the world. I felt inferior to those people.

Shift of Paradigms in My Life

In spite of all this, there was hope. I never lost my focus toward the attainment of my lifetime goals. I was fortunate enough to have parents who had little or no education but were very much enthused about my education. My parents would usually buy books for me to read as long as they could afford them. I was able to read a library of books from “the nine algorithms that change the future” by John MacCormick, “Hackers” by Steven Levy, “Voice of Conakry” by Kwame Nkrumah to “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens before I turned fifteen. From these books, I idolized great achievers like Kwame Nkrumah, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. Taking lessons from their successes, failures and how they overcame the challenges they faced in life, I gathered my dreams and aspiration to become an influential leader, a kind of social entrepreneur with a spice of technology who will initiate great impacts on the society; my community, the African continent and the world at large.

Due to this, my focus shifted from my hatred for school to the achievements of my ambitions. I attended my classes judiciously and successfully aced my national exam into high school at Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School; one of Ghana’s finest. At high school, in the pursuit of my dreams, I garnered more successes under my belt. I enjoyed life at high school. I enjoyed the classes, I was able to explore my interest in technology through my science with ICT curriculum. I took almost every concept taught and tried to advance my skills in it. It was so amazing to see how few lines of a mixture of numbers, alphabets and special characters, could decide which function the computer should perform. I even took opportunities for other curriculums like Business by participating in Business competitions which were a great experience; another opportunity to challenge myself. This experience further deepened my interest in Entrepreneurship. This decision served as a motivation for many students who wanted to partake in cross-curriculum activities. The annual sports events, the fun moments at the Saturday entertainment nights and the time I spent with the friends I made are all experiences I wish I could do it all over again. Because they relieved me from the mental stress of thinking about my family’s circumstance, a bedridden father and a breadwinner mother. To this day, the connection I established with my school is unparalleled, I am often called upon to give talks to inspire current students.

Now, after having a taste of how a good education was supposed to be like, I graduated from high school into a society where everybody is trying to tell you what studies in College and what career part you have to take. Everyone seems to know what is good for me except me. In retrospect, all that I wanted was academic freedom, societal freedom and to be responsible for my decisions. I knew I longed to be in an environment where limits are of no interest to its residents and the boundaries of discoveries are being pushed. I knew I wanted to be in an enabling environment where I can do the things I love, explore, find new challenges and opportunities which will bring the best out of me. Independent work, focus on undergraduate studies and research opportunities, speaks volumes of the spirit of exploration and discovery that radiates from both students and faculty. This convinced me without a doubt that St. Thomas University is perfectly suited for me.

Final Thoughts

I have always believed in myself and my decisions. When I decided to apply to St. Thomas University as a single choice applicant everyone tried to convince me not to. Just because my SAT scores were not good enough compared to the students living in cities and I couldn’t score straight A grades in my final exam like I used to. Despite the pessimism of my friends and family, I stood by my choices and here I am today, a student with the opportunity to show the world how a man of courage and confidence can take the world by storm. So now I say to those who once doubted me, “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from your dreams are still valid”.

Because I am the only person from my whole extended family, who has the potential to study abroad, I am my ancestors' wildest dream! A legacy builder!! The game-changer!!!