Shine (CF Brighter Contest) ✔

Shine

Follow @CadillacFairview for more information on their CFBrighter comment challenge! I've been commissioned by them to write an entry about a time in my life when motivation and positivity pulled through to help me achieve something I never thought I was capable of. Hopefully this inspires you to tell your own stories, whether for the contest, or to simply to reflect on a time when you achieved something, because working hard is always something that you should be proud of and remember.

Shine

By Tahlie Purvis

I didn't realize the date for applying to universities was so close until my guidance counsellor asked where I was going. My initial response was blind panic where I rattled off schools in my head with an awkward, "but I'm open for anything" as parting words.

My counsellor gave me hundreds of options and a handful of brochures and booklets that could each be full novels. To say I began to worry about my future was a major understatement. Nearly every spare moment I had to myself was spent on my laptop researching every school in Canada.

And nearly all of them had the exact same factor that was worrying me further.

Grades.

I was going to apply to three universities in the same city but at different levels. One I was guaranteed to get into, but it wasn't what I wanted, it was a backup. The next level up was what I kept saying was my dream school - not too hard, not too easy. If I didn't slack off, then I would hopefully be accepted. The last one was the hardest to get into.

And honestly, I had no hopes set upon it.

My grades would have to be higher than they'd ever been and I'd have to somehow make myself sound more impressive than I am in a single essay.

The days went by and I found myself gliding through high school with average grades. I decided that I would simply settle for whichever university wanted me. The lowest level accepted me within a month. Naturally, I was over the moon, except something felt a little incomplete. The 'dream school' had previously emailed, hinting that they would probably accept me, yet that suddenly didn't feel like it was enough. My family reassured me that it was an amazing school; however, my head was stuck on the highest level university.

I was told not to keep my hopes up at being accepted to that school. But even when I was told to have realistic goals in mind, I couldn't stop dreaming of myself at that school.

Just like that a switch went off in my head and I began working twice as hard. I spent days on essays and hours studying. My lunches were spent in the library and my evenings typing on my laptop. I stayed behind after school, and hid away in my room to ensure I passed my exams. However, I wasn't alone in the process. Other friends were working to get into schools and together, we spent weeks going above and beyond what we needed to do. Any moment I felt as though the effort wasn't worth it, I stopped and remembered why I was working so hard. It was for myself and my future. Any thought of stress was overlooked by the idea of completing my dream to go to this school. But now it was more than a dream, it was a tangible goal that I believed I could reach.

A month later, the second level school accepted me, the highest said nothing.

Peers of mine had received acceptances from the highest university, meanwhile I was told to be happy with what I got - that my grades were good, but not quite good enough. I was ready to accept the second level university, however I kept putting it off, hopeful that maybe something would still happen. I went to sleep, telling myself that I'll accept the other offer in the morning.

I was awoken at 7am by an email on my phone.

It was an acceptance letter.

________

When we're young we believe that anything is possible. As we get older we have to overcome obstacles and challenges to reach our personal goals. This takes perseverance, dedication and an optimistic attitude to truly shine bright. That is why Cadillac Fairview launched a comment challenge for the Wattpad community to share their own personal stories! Follow the @CadillacFairview profile and check out their contest here.

Tell me if you're participating, I would love to read moments in your life where you achieved your goals!

- Tahlie x