Dear Sister...

If there's anything I learned from my big sister, it's how positive she is towards life.

Right from my childhood, I watched her approach life like a conqueror, despite times of adversity, and that helped me to be very optimistic.

One morning, while we were preparing for school, I noticed how she began to whisper to herself and so I paid very close attention.

"I am enough; I believe in myself, and I can do it," she smiled and then turned to me. "I am proud of you too, kid sister, and I can't wait to see how great you'll become. Always shoot for the stars and never settle for less." My eyes beamed so brightly, and I wore a very beautiful smile, and then we both headed for school.

That day seemed to be the most energetic day of my life, and I just wore a smile throughout the day. Suddenly, my smile was short-lived when our mathematics teacher walked into the class for an impromptu test.

As soon as Mr Henry announced the impromptu test, my countenance changed suddenly as many of us in the class raised an eyebrow. "But sir..." Many of my classmates chorused when he interrupted them, "No buts, lad and lass, tear a piece of paper right now; we are having a math test." I knew he meant business, and even though I was quite terrified by the idea of the sudden test, my sister's words suddenly became a mantra: "I am enough; I believe in myself, and I can do it." The words filled me with so much courage that I just flipped through a few pages of my math book to refresh my mind on some of the topics.

I tore a piece of paper and hoped for the best. As soon as Mr. Henry wrote down the questions on the board, I began to solve the ones I knew to the best of my ability, and surprisingly, my solutions were making sense to me.

After writing all I could, I handed the test script to Mr.Henry with so much confidence, and so many of my classmates followed suit.

Three days later, our test scores were out, and I was among the students who scored the highest. "It worked!! Yes! I believed in myself and did my best," I whispered. My sister's words helped me overcome my fears.

It was as though my sister's confidence was contagious, which helped me to stay powerful in one of the hardest moments in school. From that day onwards, I reaffirmed myself with those words, and of course, I never settled for less as I grew up in life.

"Always shot for the star." These words have also become my daily mantra as I now believe that I deserve better and more in life, no matter how tough it gets. No one believes in me more than I believe in myself, and these have been opening doors of great opportunities for me.

All thanks to my wonderful sister for teaching me such positive values right from childhood.