"I placed a lot of pressure on myself to get into a good school." (Jannell, Volunteer Tutor)

Image provided by Jannell.

This is Jannell. She is a volunteer tutor at Impart, and this is her story of pushing through.

"My secondary school years were difficult for me. My dad passed away when I was thirteen. I was young, but I understood what was going on and saw the financial struggles my family experienced due to his passing. Because of this, I placed a lot of pressure on myself to get into a good school and avoid being a burden.

During those years however, I was continually failing A Math. I specifically remember being stuck on simultaneous equations - chapter one of the textbook - while my friends would move onto other topics. A teacher even advised me to drop it and focus on my other subjects, but I was adamant on continuing. It wasn’t until my O’Levels that I finally passed my A Math and got an A1! While my math teacher didn’t believe in me, my other teachers did, and their little encouragements along the way helped me to push through and continue working hard when faced with discouragement.

I realised that it’s okay to learn at your own pace. Don’t be worried about what other people are doing, it’s your own journey. Just take it step by step and eventually your hard work will pay off."