Mercy's Story - Letting go and fixating on the now
"It’s the best thing that ever happened to me..."
When I was 18, I got admitted into law school with a 75% student loan. This, for me, was the beginning of my bright future, but little did I know everything would take a turn. I noticed I wasn’t very interested in the program, and my grades were dropping. On top of that, I failed to pay the remaining 25% of my tuition fee, and that devastated me.
Fast forward, after writing exams, I struggled to pay the rest of my fees and couldn't see my results. While my friends were moving on with school, I was stuck. I asked the dean of students if they could show me my results so I’d know how I did. To my surprise, she did show me—but I failed and had to write supplementary exams in two courses.
I still couldn’t write the exams and move on with my classmates because, by the time I cleared my balance, the supplementary exams had already been written. I fell into depression. I hated myself for the disappointment. I hated existing at this point because I was constantly wondering what my friends and peers thought of me. I saw myself as a failure and a letdown to my parents.
I had to wait a whole year to go back to school because I had lost my sponsorship and had to raise money from scratch. During any other time, I would have lost hope and motivation, but I found small things to be grateful for. I promised myself to use that year to become a better version of myself. I started to notice everything else in my life that was going well: I had life, parents, siblings who loved me so much, and I had just gotten a job to help me raise money.
When 2024 began, I noticed things started to change. I managed to raise enough money to go back to school and changed my program to public relations. Here I am, enjoying it more than ever. When I lost my opportunity in law school, I felt like it was the worst thing that could happen, but now it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.
During that time, I downloaded my Gratitude app, and it has helped me a lot to see beyond setbacks in life. I use it every day, and it’s amazing.
