Looking back: God’s Glory!

In my secondary school days, I often felt financially inferior relative to other friends who came from well-to-do families. Perhaps, it was this inferiority complex that drove me to excel in my GCE ‘O’ levels. While preparing for examinations, I was praying to God daily for good progress in my revisions and for His blessings and His presence during every single paper I took. I felt that God was with me all the time.

When the results were released, I was surprised that I did better than some of my friends. For the very first time, I felt genuinely proud of myself. I attributed this to God.

For the very first time, I felt genuinely proud of myself. I attributed this to God.

Fast forward into polytechnic and still riding high on my GCE ‘O’ level results, I was rather confident of tackling polytechnic and doing equally well. I was comfortable with a 3.8/4 or more during the first semester. Truth to be told, I studied harder. To my utter shock, first semester yielded a 3.3 out of 4. Still shellshocked, I did some calculations and I knew going to university is going to be an uphill battle of securing pefect GPAs for few semesters ahead. My dream of landing into a local university was somewhat drifting further after this painful episode. I knew I had to be disciplined.

During that semester break, I reflected. There were no conclusions other than the fact I decided to study and fight ALONE and WITHOUT God – which was terrible. I was rebelling against God’s thinking I could do everything with my own might. It was a simple discovery that changed fundamentally the way I approach my studies and many other things.

Come second semester, I did my due diligence and improved on my studying techniques based on my research online. As usual, I did my notes and studying. However, this time, the burden felt upon my shoulders were significantly lighter. I was happy to study. I returned to God and second semester yielded 3.87 out of 4.0. That’s a massive improvement!

At this juncture, I want to qualify my intentions of returning to God are not for better academic results. Better results are just byproduct of a better relationship with God.

This time, I told myself, it’s different. It is not by my might but God’s abundant blessings.

Second year (first semester), I felt stronger and ready. That semester, I managed to hit a GPA of 4.0. That was truly an experience. Previously, I didn’t believe I could do it. Truthfully speaking, there was a sense of self-imposed glass ceiling psychologically that… I can’t get a perfect GPA. That glass ceiling is broken!

I went on to achieve similar feats of perfect scores. End of my poly year, I pulled my GPA to a respectable figure which landed me a SPRING Scholarship and NTU Bachelor in Business programme – along with my other non-academic qualifications.

Thinking back, it was a miracle. What if I did not reflect well enough during my first year, where would I be now? And what if I didn’t have the faith and determination of my own abilities and God’s amazing power? A little act of faith and having the discipline to have focused studying sessions could make things different. Very different.

In summary, believe in God and study smart by using useful studying techniques.