Determination is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Being able to have the will to work hard for countless hours, days, weeks, years, all to achieve a goal you know deep down inside you are destined to achieve. We always hear of wonderful success stories of someone accomplishing something after years of hard work, and these stories more or less make us want to work hard to achieve our dreams too, only to wake up a week later having totally forgotten the urge we had the prior week. However, I have a story that makes me wonder why not only myself, but others who are more privileged, tend to believe that sometimes they just aren’t capable.

A 32-year old black female Torontonian, purportedly a high school dropout, but now getting ready to join an Ivy League School to study for a Masters degree in Education is, quite frankly, unimaginable. Think again, for that is exactly what Toni Morgan was able to do. This incredible women had dropped out of high school and was ridiculed, and told by her teachers that she wouldn’t pass anything, and wont even get a degree. The discouragement she felt didn’t stop her for she was able to get a Bachelors of Arts degree in from Ryerson University in Toronto. Though being brought up in arguably the most dangerous community in the GTA, Jane and Finch, and having to struggle to find work, she persevered, so much more than anyone I know, and is now on her way to Harvard, one of the best schools in the world.

While I admire her journey and her shockingly humble approach to this great news, it also gets me thinking about what others can achieve and, more importantly, why others cannot achieve it. What I am trying to say is that I believe if a poor, high school dropout who had to work hard for a living, virtually homeless at times, could get into such a prestigious school as Harvard, a school she applied for not even believing she would make it in, why can’t we, especially those with more than they can possibly ask for, be as motivated as Toni Morgan, when coming to reach their goals. Thinking about this story makes me thankful for what I have, and even more motivated to accomplish my goals.

Nonetheless, not many feel the same way I do. These folks who do not strive for what they believe they can do end up being among the million haters posting nasty and rude comments on YouTube videos and articles such as the one I described above. “Oh, why apply to a school you can’t afford?” or “Why not apply to U of T, a considerably cheaper and pretty good school as well?” are just a few of the thousands of hate comments I read in some comment sections. I am baffled by these people’s arrogance and, in some cases, hypocrisy. One of these haters does something crazy or unimaginable and they’d probably back themselves up. But when a hard-working woman pursues her dreams of further education while even teachers doubted her, there is always some controversy that these pessimists that often call themselves realists, just find they have to bring up.

I am determined to make a difference somehow in this world someday; I am already writing these weekly articles that bring smiles to people’s faces. My parents are determined to raise me right and give me the best of education (even if it means dictating every day of my life until I own my own house, I will take the dictation as a blessing in disguise), because I know there are many out there who lack who may only need just a little push to make their dream come true, but lack that someone to push them. My mother says inexorably, “As long as you are living under MY roof, you will follow my rules until you get out on your own!” And so far, I think they are doing a pretty decent job, but a lot of people just do not get it.

A lot of people are determined to do something, some more than others, and what really differentiate the truly motivated from the fakes are their work ethics and their will to succeed. Blood, dirt, and sweat are the difference between a champion and someone who dresses up as one.

Angelous.