Many of us feel amazed at how time transforms our lives and
thinking. The concept of time makes me think of a puppet controlled by its
master who deftly makes it avoid a myriad of unexpected pitfalls or somehow
becomes the cause of its doom; only the steadfastness of the puppet ensures its
wholesome future.
A sudden burst of oven-hot breeze embraced me as soon as I
exited a private tuition center. The searing heat only added to my sorrows;
this was my sixth visit to a tuition center and apparently due to my unaffordability,
I left disappointed. Two years ago, my parents lectured me that I would have to
manage higher secondary education on my own. Due to a financial crisis, they
agreed to pay only a small amount for my education while I had to afford the
rest myself. I enrolled in a private
tuition center due to higher fee of local schools. As I trudged across the slum
street, the thought of unfinished syllabus and exams which were due in a month
made me shudder. I recalled with surprise how my physics teacher refused to
teach during such a crucial time and stalked angrily out of the classroom with
a petty excuse.
With teary eyes, I wondered how students of established
schools would be; happy perhaps. I remembered those nostalgic moments when I
was in a school devoid of any double standards; how students smiled at each
other regardless of financial difference, how teachers were role models of a
successful life. I pictured photos of old friends; everyone grinning with hands
across each other’s shoulders: only time faded all those grins. I started feeling
remorseful for those deprived of education.
However my life had been defined by a single word:
ambitious. I always felt defeated at the sight of seeing others excel. After
all ambitiousness helped me surpass my mentors’ expectations and helped me get
numerous academic and sports certificates. Like a door tore off from its
hinges, ambition overcame my obsession with wallowing in self-pity. I wiped my
tears and sweat filled forehead and headed home with a refreshed spirit of
optimism.
“Stop writing and put your pens down!” A voice echoed
through the exam hall loudspeaker. I complied and smiled weakly to myself. The
soft thumping of my heartbeat and exhausted mind assured that I had reaped the
fruit of my hard work; my exam went very flawlessly. Whilst maintaining a
balance between leisure and studies, I entirely self-studied in solitude by daily
consulting the internet and library many hours without my parents having a
slightest hint of what I was up to. Albeit aware of the harsh consequences, I
had complete faith of achieving the seemingly-impossible.
In less than a month my perceptions about myself changed; I
was no ordinary human being. I fully realized that positive qualities could be
the best human reconditioners. Each of my actions was encompassed by faith. I
became a philanthropist and developed a habit of donating money to charitable
schools to help the less fortunate. Though an unanswered question still remains
a mystery: “Where could time have found me if it weren’t for the predicament I
faced?”
