Scholarship

unsplash

"One day I will have my own house and a car. I will make sure my Mom will eat delicious food every day."

My classmates laughed at me when the teacher asked each one of us about our dreams.

"How can you do that Aron when just wearing decent clothes is hard for you?"

One of my classmates mocked me because of what I said. Seeing how teary my clothes were, they refused to acknowledge my dreams for the future. I couldn't blame them when I remembered how stupid I was telling nonsense in those younger days. Even so, I was determined to achieve my dreams despite the situation we were in.

It was Christmas Eve when we only ate dried fish my Father caught a week ago. We always dried fish because it was an emergency food for us when fishing was unlucky. One of our neighbors gave us their Christmas celebration food. Spaghetti, delicious meat dishes, and many more. That neighbor was always nice to us even though he was rich. His name was Victor, a successful entrepreneur. He inspired me with his story of how he became super rich as of that day. When I felt like giving up and sat outside our house watching the sky.

"The sky is so wide and beautiful, right?"

He said as he smiled and sat beside me. I just graduated from high school and decided to work as a laborer in construction to help my father and mother by providing food for the family. At the same time, I was saving money for my studies in college.

"Yeah"

A sigh word for someone who just lost his faith in his dreams.

"Don't be disappointed."

Perhaps he noticed me degrading myself.

"Just like the sky, the life of a person is vast and beautiful but it's not always like that. When it starts to rain it will not be that beautiful because it's dark. However, it's not like it doesn't end. It fades and then a new beautiful one comes."

He caught me there so I listened to him seriously while looking at the sky and pictured out myself how I would become in the future.

"All you need to do is to focus on your dreams and don't ever lose them. It's a matter of working hard and dedication after all."

He left me with encouraging words and from then on even though life was hard I remained patient to achieve my dreams.

"Your scholarship has been approved."

While working on construction I met the owner of that house who happened to be a teacher at one of the Universities. His name was Teacher Andrew and he was a kind person. He saw me once when I applied for a scholarship at that University. He approached me because I amazed him by doing that despite how tired I was working on the construction site.

He helped me how to submit my application and at the same time helped me to study so I could pass the entrance examination. I worked during the day and studied at night after work. Blood and sweat I shed just to have this scholarship and at last, it came true.

"Really?"

I was shoveling cement when he told me to stop working first. He gave me a letter and yes, he said I am now a scholar at that University. My emotion was still in the process of not knowing how to react. It's so unreal for me. I remained in awe because of the happiness I felt hearing that news.

"Yes, Aron. You can now start going to school by the time the semester starts."

I couldn't believe what I just heard and because of that, I shouted.

"YES!!!"

My tears fell endlessly while smiling. I created sounds while crying but at the same time smiling. I was so happy even though I didn't hold my dreams yet but I know it began. I was thankful as well because Teacher Andrew found a way to be a working student as well. I needed it so that I would not rely on my parents for my expenses while studying. I just then remembered what Mister Victor said that life would not be the same always.

END…

mrnightmare