Descriptive
Essays
Describe
what you understand about success and explain why.
Everybody knows failure is a
painful experience. To see all that hard work go to waste is sometimes too much
to bear. To counter the soul-sapping effects of failure, you need perseverance
and an iron will. This is a story of someone I know who has these qualities.
Despite failing, he had never lost hope. In the end, he succeeded and he took
with him some of his friends.
His name is Saiful, a bright
energetic young man with one very damning weakness. He was lazy. On his SPM
year, he neglected his studies. He always thought he could wait one more day
before beginning his revisions. He took things way too easy and did not take
his coming exams seriously at all. He had his head in the clouds and his
friends did nothing to snap him out of his dream. It was no surprise that he
failed his exam and he had no one else to blame but himself. He failed all the
subjects he sat for except for Bahasa Melayu.
What did surprise everyone though
is how quickly he got out of his guilt filled torpor. I asked him about it
later and he admitted to being sad, but at the same time he felt it was too
late for regrets. It was time to move on and forget about the waster year. A
new year and a new challenge awaits, he said. He immediately registered for the
examination for the next year as a private candidate. He went on a tour,
apologizing to all the teachers who had ever taught him. He begged them to set
up extra classes for him so he could catch up, studying two years-worth of
knowledge in only one. His teachers were happy to sec the change, professing
their faith in him.
He went to see his old friends
and tried to persuade them to join him on his personal quest. Sadly, most of
them were still lost in the clouds and were not interested in his proposal. He
talked to them about how bad it felt to fail and his impassioned tale managed
to turn some of them to his cause. Unfortunately, the majority ignored him as
they preferred to do other things besides studying.
Yet, this did not deter his
burning spirit. He had a target and he refused to be side-tracked. He
remembered the disappointment in his mother’s face when he showed her the exam
slip and he vowed never to make her mother feel that way ever again.
With the support from the
teachers, the blessings of his family and sacrifices he made himself, he
managed to pass on his second try. He achieved three As in Bahasa Melayu,
History and Religious Studies and passing Credits for all the other subjects.
He had made his teachers and his parents proud. More importantly, he had made
himself proud.
He was happy and content with his
achievement but being a good person, he did not stop there. He continued to try
to help the young kids in the community and ingrain in them the importance of
education. Lucky for me, I was one of his lost children who managed to come to
his senses. Now, 1 am helping him talk to other kids who were just like me not
too long ago.
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