I was motivated by the gifts given to the best students in my class

Gifting students gifts sometimes can lead to a dullard picking up his or her talent towards redefining himself or herself.

Yogendra Singh
I was once in this boat, but then I kept on seeing students going home with countless gifts. Anytime a student comes from the school, my parents are always seeing them. They always use them to compare me when it comes to my clothes.
“Abi, look at your friends; their clothes are just too neat. Why is yours always dirty?” My dad would ask me when I was back from school.
Since my mom was with him, she must not keep quiet without contributing. “That's her nature; she's always dirty.”.
The only thing I would do was get angry, just like someone who has been offended at school. I would sometimes lie, saying my teacher was the one who told me to clean her office.

One afternoon, we were given our results, and I happened to take the last position as usual. My parents had known from the onset that my results were always worse, and they wouldn't ask me to bring my result sheet to them. Immediately after we were given the result, I dashed home and dropped my report card as usual on my dad's table. He came back from work and saw the result. He called my mom to come and see what her daughter had brought from her school.
“It's no longer your daughter, right? It's my daughter because she did not bring home a better result, my mom responded to my dad.
“You know how I always took first in class when I was still in secondary school? Don't you remember that they always call me out as the best student?” My dad would say that they both attended the same secondary school.

“But you also know that I'm not a dullard while in school, right? Was that not the reason you got glued to me? You loved me just because of the good results I always had then, aren't I right?” My mom would reply.
“She had failed again.” My father could not hold it but raised his voice so loudly.
“Abi, not again," my mom, who was supporting me, yelled out loud.
“Mum, it's not my fault. I promise to try the next session." This was how I kept promising time in and time out without making up my promises instead of coming home with bad results. My mom never relented in encouraging me to perform better.

Rita has been the best student in my class. My elder sister, on the other hand, has been topping her class since she was two classes ahead of me. One day, the worst happened to me. At the end of that session, prizes were rolled out to those who performed excellently in different classes and different subjects. Rita took all the prizes in all the subjects. Parents who were invited gave Rita tangible gifts apart from the usual gifts she was given in school. Her bag was heavy, and her parents and sisters assisted her in carrying her prizes home. It was so shameful of me to see her with those prizes without being gifted with just one.

My elder sister got home with loads of prizes, although in most of her departmental subjects. This got my parents fired up and began to call me different names. “You see the way your mate took all the prizes without you bringing one home. Shame on you! My dad yelled. The abuse was just too much for me, and so I decided to run away from the house to a calm place just to think deeply about my life.

While sitting, I became just like a ruminating animal, remembering the countless prizes Rita took home, not only with money but also with my elder sister. I also remembered the series of names my parents were calling me. This made me rethink how I would remodel myself to be able to adapt to the system of reading.

I started reading stylishly without my parent's knowledge. Before resuming, I had finished up all the schemes of work in each of the subjects, including mathematics. I was ready for war against my studies. Immediately after we resumed, we were given a welcome test just to test our abilities. I have been known as the girl who does not know anything (Dullard). So, questions were written on the board just for us to solve. It gladdened my heart, as the questions written on the board were the ones I had read a few hours ago. I broke all the questions down to the last level. To make it unique, I was the first to finish.

My teacher said, “You again? Does that mean you did not read your books? Why did you submit early when you were supposed to attempt all the questions?” As he was talking, he had a look at my paper and paused. He looked at me once again to be sure if I did not copy someone or take a paper inside. He said I must follow him to the principal's office. After the whole class was done with the test, I marched with him confidently to the principal's office. He explained everything to the principal, and the principal doubted my ability. He called for an emergency staff meeting. When the teachers gathered, he told all my teachers to reset fresh questions for me to solve in their presence.

I remained confident, as I knew I would not fumble since I had read almost everything, including the last session’s work.

They gave me the questions and also timed me. To their surprise, I could not spend the time given to me before submitting. “Are you through?” the principal asked.
“Yes, sir, I'm done," I answer without running into the realm of fear.

Jill Wellington

They all checked my work and immediately scored me. I got all the questions I was given. From that day on, my story changed totally. At the end of each term, my results became superb, and even topped my class. Rita was the second, as I had overtaken her. My parents gave me gifts that made me want to sit tight once and again. When it's the end of the year, we have our program, and I claim all the prizes. This time, the tide changed, and I was the one receiving praise and gifts. My school gave me countless gifts.

My dad brought out countless gifts and said to me, “My daughter, well done.”.
“So, she is now your daughter, right?” My mom asked, but my dad could not respond and instead kept praising me and spoiling me with gifts.
My best had never been relegated by anyone.