One of the saddest days of my life

One of the saddest days I can remember hit me so hard. It wasn’t just about failing; it was the weight of everything falling apart at once. Let me take you back to my third year in university. The chaplain mid sermon talked about asking God for a “magnetic memory”— the kind that helps you remember everything you read or hear. I needed that.

Between my architecture studies, multiple service units in chapel, and running different businesses, I was overwhelmed. So, I prayed for it, and I received it. I wasn’t aiming for a first class, just a 2:1, and after that prayer, as long as I attended class and gave myself a couple of hours before any test or exam, I could recall all I needed. Unlike before where I had to read for hours.

Fast forward to my master’s degree. I had grown my small printing business into something big. What started from a tiny A4 inkjet printer are in to multiple large A3 printers right in my architecture studio, and I was the go-to guy for colored printing. I could balance it all, attending class, doing assignments, and running my business simultaneously. Life was working.

Then one day, it all came crashing down. We Building Components and Methods exam, this was about 2 and half hours before the exam and I barely just got settled down and study for it, I got a call. The Vice Chancellor was in the studio and wanted my printers out immediately. No warning, no explanation. I couldn’t understand it. I later realized that I had made some enemies in school. I had to stop everything, pack up all my printers, and haul them out with tears in my eyes. Meanwhile, my reading time was slipping away. I went into the exam blank. I hadn’t revised, and I clearly wasn’t myself. I asked to leave the exam hall, and my lecturer, knowing what had happened, let me go.

That’s how I got my first carryover. It crushed me. All the time, effort, and money I had put into that business felt wasted. I was in tears for a while, some of my course mates comforted me. But after the tears dried up, I had a decision to make, stay down or get back up.

I chose to keep moving. I bought a smaller, more discreet printer and continued my business. I started focusing more on making greeting cards, graphic design and diversified into areas that didn’t require my big printers. I couldn’t control what had happened, but I could control what I did next.

Life will hit you with things outside your control. You’ll work hard for something, and it can still get taken away. But what matters is how you respond. Don’t waste time on what you can’t change, figure out your next move and keep going. Progress is still progress, no matter how small.

There will always be obstacles trying to steal your progress. Don’t let them stop you. Keep moving forward. If you’re starting out with an idea, do the same thing, leave out the things you can’t control because you can’t control them anyways, focus your energies on what you can control and keep moving forward.