5
Probably because I always felt "different"
and was always trying to understand how I
could "fit in." I was one of very few "mixed"
kids throughout my education in Cameroon.
I had to learn to be confident and
comfortable in my skin very fast. Granted,
that didn't happen overnight...actually, that
adapt well to different group dynamics).
successfully passing my A levels. I worked so
hard to get good grades, primarily because I
was disappointed in my O Levels and
wanted to prove to Fr. Kingtang that he
made a good decision in granting me
acceptance into St. Bede's. Again...wrong
reasons. I forgot the real reason for working
hard, the next step - university.
Understand who you are, and why you are
the way you are is first, extremely
important in your interaction with other
people, and two, shaping your path to
achieving whatever you want to achieve.
So I flunked my SATs and moved to the US
in August 2009 with not even one university
acceptance letter. I eventually overcame it
and actually graduated on time with a
modest GPA.
Am I rambling yet? Or have I actually
answered the question? I hope I have.
Overall, self awareness, I think, is very
important.
7. What advice do you have for students
who aspire to pursue your
career/academic path, and for current St.
Bede’s College students overall?
6. What hurdles, if any, did you overcome
along the way, and how?
I will quote one of my mentors here in the
U.S., who I greatly admire and respect. I
couldn't say it any better than him,
however, I will emphasize one thing, "book
smarts" only take you so far…the rest…has
absolutely nothing to do with "book
smarts." I am not sure I've gotten there
yet…but I certainly know I am on the right
path.
Hurdles....I like to call them challenges.
There are quite a few. I'll give you one that
may resonate the most amongst current
high school students.
After graduating from St. Bede's, I thought I
had overcome the greatest challenge of all I am not sure there is a secret sauce.
Everyone gets it done in a different way.
Also, I am not sure we are always clear
about what is a successful career. Lots of
people make different choices for different
reasons. Although, I will say that most seem
to share some similar characteristics: clever
(general problem solving, not necessarily
book smarts), ambitious (always trying to
get better, setting aggressive goals for
themselves and their team, and making a
really good effort), and collaborative (most
folks looking out for themselves over the
team tend to struggle; successful people …
work well and adapt well to different group
dynamics).