It is only fitting that I congratulate all the SEA students who passed for their first-choice schools and those that passed for "a school." This letter goes out to all the students who cried on results day and those who were dissatisfied with their results.
I remember this like yesterday, 13 short years ago. I sat in Standard Five A that morning patiently but anxiously awaiting my results. The clock never stopped, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. My imagination was at play as I wandered further away from the cautious atmosphere of my classroom.
The principal finally appeared at the class door with that brown envelope of the times ahead.
Miss opened the envelop with smiles as she skimmed through the results, then she alerted us that the time has come.
Boyo John–Queen's Royal College; Sam Troy–St Mary's College; Johnson Paul–Trinity College; Shanellie James–St George's College; Clara Bob–Bishop Anstey; and Celeste Dean–Morvant Laventille.
Oh how my world crumbled! As I made my way to her desk to collect my slip the tsunami of tears was uncontainable. At the same time my mother was just walking towards the door as she saw her child covered in sorrow. My friends, this was the day that I will never forget as long as I live. It was a day of pain and sorrow because a relative had spoken these "never words" over me while I was preparing for the first SEA.
Allow me to cheer you up, perhaps serve as a motivation during this time of displeasure. After 13 years, I am now happy to announce that I am doing just fine! I survived! It didn't kill me. My life is a journey of success, though I felt I failed at times.
Today I am 24 years old and a biomedical engineer. I graduated summa cum laude (highest honour) from a top private school in New York. What does this say to you? The school you passed for does not activate a life of failure; you do! The moment you give up, you fail, and the moment you fight, you succeed.
I journeyed through a series of academic trials and tribulations as I passed through secondary school but they only made me unstoppable. I am writing to give you that push that others around you may not have to share.
You will be who God says you will be. Do not accept the negative words of parents, peers, teachers or strangers. Instead, denounce these statements, refuse to accept these words over your life. Look yourself in the mirror every day and say: "I am great, I am unstoppable, I am who God says I will be and I will not allow the school I attend or the school I passed for to determine my destiny."
Go brave and conquer the stigma of "last-choice schools" and make a name for your school. Put them on the map! Be empowered!
Shanice Doyle
Via e-mail
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