Just a Sentence
My father once told me, "Daughter, you will only fail if you want to fail. There is no failure that can't be overcome". To me, this was not only a piece of advice but something I had held on dear since my basic seven when I was still a little girl. This is also to say that a sentence can change a person's whole life for many years. For if it hadn't been my dad's words, who knows what might even become of me. This is why I decided in this article to share with you the stories of people who overcame their failures.
Let's Get Going
Michael Appiah Agyekum
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| Michael Appiah Agyekum |
I met Michael during one of my confusing moments in life. It was a time when I was worried about the best template I could use for my website. Anything I came across at all was like those of 1995 (just exaggerating, you know). But the honest truth is, most of the templates I selected for my blogger site were not appealing enough.
Out of the frustration, I decided to get on to YouTube, and hey, I entered just that short text into the search bar. "Best Template to use for my blogger site". After that single enter button, the results that followed were many. I don't like watching long tutorials because they make me feel sick and tired of being stuck in one place, just wasting my precious time.
I kept scrolling until I came across Michael's video on YouTube, where he had even left his WhatsApp number in the description so that he could be contacted. That was when I first met this gentleman, who guided me through the page setup, layout, and everything. His lifestyle is one that portrays him as a young man fighting to find a place for himself on this beautiful planet.
There was a time when our conversation chanced on how he was able to monetize his website, and this is the part I want you to pay rapt attention to. He had told me he started blogging as little as when he was just in his teens. He had tried to get his website Myke Educate monetized on several occasions. AdSense had rejected him on several occasions for low content, but he never gave up.
He continued applying until a time when he applied with 103 posts on his website for the fourth time, and finally got approved. You see, no failure is permanent. And for the fact that you have been trying to get something and have not gotten it at the particular moment doesn't mean you should stop. Keep trying and keep improving until you finally win.
Prosper Korni
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| Prosper Korni |
If there is anyone in my life I have known for far too long apart from my family, it is this young man. If we are to talk about people who come from humble beginnings, this gentleman is no exception. He was admitted to KNUST in 2020 through the Less Endowed Admission Programme. Before his admission in 2020, he was a young, frustrated individual who had no hopes for the future.
In the year 2019, he had completed his senior high school and was at home without having any work to do. His parents were among those who were not financially stable. Without hopes of furthering his education after Senior High School, he decided to apply for some teaching jobs. No school ever called him, so he decided to travel all the way from the Volta region to Kasoa to seek greener pastures.
Imagine a life for someone who had no relatives outside his hometown, where was he going to sleep? But the young man left home, and while at Kasoa, he got a job with a herbal medicine company, which offered him accommodation. Having very little understanding of the language they spoke in the town, how was he going to cope?
The next day, he was joined by a group to go and sell medicines, and those days were one of the worst moments in his life. Due to the numerous challenges and hunger, he decided to join a salt industry which paid him as little as Three Hundred Ghana Cedis per month. Life was stressful, until finally, when he was called by his SHS that he was awarded admission to study at KNUST.
His mother had to take loans to pay off some of his bills, and for the rest of his time in school, he did everything possible to complete it. He will sell if he has to; he will go to great lengths to take people's project work to finish so he can have something on his table. As it is today, he has completed his programme at KNUST, finished his national service, and is looking forward to climbing higher heights in his life. This is also proof that no failure is permanent and can't be overcome.
Richmond Dela Dotsey
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| Richmond Dela Dotsey |
For all the people I have met in life, someone who has withstood sadness and pain for so long without breaking down is no other person than Richmond. I met this gentleman during one of my visits to a school in Accra. And getting to know his story has always been an inspiration to do more.
At a very young age, the boy had lost his dad, the only breadwinner of his family. In fact, his education was crumbling, and his future was shaking. In fact, the gentleman, according to him, had even become unwanted among his uncles and aunties since no one was willing to take care of him. His mother, who was supposed to take care of him, had abandoned him.
Though one of his uncles finally decided to care for him, he felt like he was living in a world with strangers because he was always left out. A year to write his BECE in 2023, he had to drop out of school since no one was willing to pay for his registration fees. That was the moment when he decided to move to Accra. Having no relative to stay with, he had to sleep in an unfinished apartment for months in dust and dirt, helping masons in the area to earn a meagre income at the end of the day.
Fortunately, his humble character won him a favour when a woman decided to help him write the BECE. Today, his hard work, dedication, and perseverance have afforded him one of the best Senior High Schools in Ghana. Another testimony that truly no failure can't be overcome.
Louisa Adubea Kyei
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| Louisa Adubea Kyei |
I met Louisa during a church programme when she was invited. The connection we had from the moment was that we were both individuals with the passion to write. That was not enough; we always talked about things that no one in the world ever thought about apart from us. But for this young lady, writing has not always been her passion; her dream has always been to climb greater heights in life.
I have witnessed hard moments in her life, but one thing I have learned from her is rising from the ashes, even if everything shows you are failing. She doesn't wait for days before she starts what is in her mind. There have been days without food, and moments when she was low on cash. There have been times when she almost did not write her exams because she owed school fees.
Today, as you read this, Louisa Adubea Kyei is the current president of the KNUST Peer Counsellors.
This right here is to encourage you if you ever feel like giving up. It may seem to you that you are going through a lot, yes, it is true, but does it mean you will keep your head beneath deep waters and wait for tomorrow? If there is nothing to inspire you, the story of Louisa should.
She is just a girl who is fighting through the storms of life. Her dream is that she would be heard by the world one and as time goes on, she will surely get to her destination. There is no failure in your life that you cannot overcome. You can, if you really want to.
Benedicta
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| Benedicta in Yellow |
For someone who is like a sister to me, it is no other person than Benedicta. We grew up in the same community and in the same church and have known each other since childhood. Currently in the same school as her, Benedicta has been one of the few people who have shown great courage in the midst of her fears.
Just like every student faces hardship in her life, she has faced it the same way. I remember the very days when she had nothing in her purse to buy food, times she went to class late because she couldn't finish her activities on time for the next day.
There have been challenging moments in her life when she had to walk long distances and miles to complete her assignments and stay up all night to study because her exam was due. For people who have shown that failure doesn't mean you shouldn't rise again, I will vouch for her. Because she has always been able to manage her time, no matter the amount of pressure on her.
Takeaways
As I bring this article to a close, I just want you to know that if there is any failure in your life you can't overcome, then you are not being strong enough. People, in fact, a lot of people, many you might even know of have been through many things but had to face them head-on.
If you do not want to feel stuck in the same place, then you have to work hard. Because to the best of my knowledge, there is no failure that you can't overcome.
