One thing always leads to another. That's the nature of life, we all need that partular spark to ignite our hidden talents.
Back to the topic, laying on the couch right now, my mind traveled as far back as I can remember myself. Growing up among my peers in the late 90s and early 2000s, I wasn't among the best academic wise. I was somewhat inferior and always tried to avoid academic discourses. I remember how my friends and siblings would converge on our compound while my dad entertains all with a novel. I was the only guy that will miss out in the entertainment simply because I didn't understand English.

My siblings were very bright, my immediate elder brother and younger sister were always taking first position in their respective classes, I was the black sheep. I always fell in the last four positions, and I would conveniently blame it on the teacher. Either I complained that he was biased in the marking or that he didn't like me.
Well, I managed to gain admission into secondary school, yet my brain didn't get the boost it required and deserved, and I really liked the honor that came with being among the best in the class. I wanted to be a banker or a financial analyst like the people I used to see on the TV. I wasn't going to give up on education, but I just wasn't understanding, I was just there laboring hard in class but no iota of understanding in me. Interestingly, I knew within myself that I was intelligent, and I guess my dad knew that too that was why he wasn't mounting pressure on me unlike my elder ones that were suffocating me with pressure.

I kept promoting on trial from Jss1 to SSS2. I ran out of luck in SSS 2 and I was asked to repeat. I could not proceed to sss3 with my mates. That was the most heartbreaking experience in my life. I was really sober and at the same felt for the first time in my life, useless and irresponsible.
I repeated the class amidst the accompanying embarrassments and shame that came with it. I was a bit more determined this time around to improve. I because so dedicated and committed to my studies, I passed the promotion exam this time around and was promoted to sss3. The result wasn't outstanding though, but I progressed to sss3 with it.
It was time to register for WAEC and the fees was 25k. I had never laid my hands on 5k before then, so 25k seemed a great sum of money to me. I Iost my father before I got to sss3, my brother had been the one shouldering the responsibilities. He came to my school and dropped 50 bills of 500 naira notes. I opened my mouth in disbelief. To me, the money was too much for someone like me. I managed to hide my emotion in the school. When I got home, I became so emotional, I couldn't help it it, tears were freely flowing down my cheeks. "What have I done to deserve this from my brother? Has he seen
something special in me?". These were the questions on my mind.

That was the turing point of my life. Since that day my brain got the spark it needed. I took mock exam, I was the best in the class. In NECO and WAEC that year, I was the best. I sat for JAMB and score 280 which was quite outstanding then. Well, I knew I was a new version of myself, but I wasn't really certain yet. I wanted to see if I'll be able to sustain this new me in the university. In my first test as an undergraduate in economics, the Lecturer came to be class and asked who's so so person... My performance was impressive in the test. That was how I changed for real. That was how I gained confidence. Throughout my journey in school, I never copied another student's work in an exam or a test, I became so sure of myself and I graduated with a 2 1.

People that knew me from the on set were gossiping that my mother took me to a mallam's for spiritual help but that wasn't true.

Share your story. Have you always been intelligent or you picked up from nowhere just like me?