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This Story of How a Girl Overcame Poverty & Abuses to Ace her A-level is an Inspiration for Us

2018-02-26 , 10:11 am

Naruto might be a crap manga after Book 34 but Masashi Kishimoto got one thing right: there are people out there younger than you and me, but stronger.

And this is the story of one such girl.

Since we’re on a roll for inspirational stories, here’s one more to complete your day. And this could very well be the MVP of them all.

Here’s the story of Bread-Girl Brenda, the girl who beat all odds to ace her A-levels.

An unhappy childhood marked with violence

When she was young, she had a messy family. Her father was an abusive alcoholic who would fight with her mother over money troubles.

He’d threaten her mother and at times, even beat her up.

Sometimes, it got so bad that she or her younger brother had to call their grandparents or the police over to mediate.

But it doesn’t end there. She’d once seen her mother cutting her own wrists with razor blades after the arguments.

Things got better after her parents had a divorce when she was in Primary six.

But that doesn’t mean it’s living happily after for her

Having such a messy childhood, it’s no wonder that Brenda had to grow up quickly and be strong for her mother.

Her mother was working as a cleaner earning less than $1,000 a month, and most of the money goes towards the rental of their home.

Not wanting to add on to the troubles of her mother, Brenda decided to save on her $2 daily allowance to pay for school stuff like study notes.

That’s when Bread-Girl Brenda was born

Imagine having to eat loaves of bread for breakfast and recess.

That’s what she did.

And when her friends go to KFC or Pizza Hut for meals, she’d sneak in outside food. Thankfully, she made a group of awesome friends who’d give her food from time to time.

She spent long hours at Pioneer Junior College (her school) studying for her A-levels to avoid the distraction of her noisy home and to “save electricity”.

But her childhood did not deter her from trying her best in life

Her older friends who were in neighbourhood gangs would ask her to join up with them. She refused because she wanted to be the best for her mother, who is like her best friend.

She couldn’t afford to go for tuition so her friends took it upon themselves to coach her in her weaker subjects, and her teachers never fail to give her encouragement and support.

Part of the Sirius Scholars Program, she was part of the Member of Parliament (MP) Attachment Programme in 2016.

And that’s when she saw her calling.

Paying it forward

Brenda was at the Meet-the-People’s session at Yuhua Constituency when she saw the hardships other people are going through.

And that drove her to join community projects like blood donation drive and the fund-raising for Blue Cross Thong Kheng Home.

She interned at the Ministry of Social and Family Development for two months after her A-levels and is now thinking of getting a degree in social sciences and business.

Of course, first, she has to think of a way to fund her university studies.

Parents now on good terms and she overcame hate for her father

So, what happened to her drunkard father?

According to her, they are now on “good terms” with each other and spend Sunday mornings having breakfast today.

She claimed to have overcome her hatred for her father and learnt to “accept him for who he is”.

Her goal right now is to graduate and get a good job and be able to support her mother comfortably.

When asked about her secret, she said that being “positive and cheerful” has helped her pull through.

“Having a tough life is no excuse because you just got to do it anyway” – some wise old man my colleague is absolutely crazy over.

I’ve had a friend who was in the same situation, but unfortunately, didn’t manage to pull through successfully. I wish he had the chance to read this article back when he was going through his own tough times.

Always quarrel with your bae? Then you need to watch this video and learn this trick on how to resolve arguments without any compromise or apology (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel):

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com