2nd Runner up - 'When things get tougher, the tough gets going'

Name : Zarifah Naqibah Hj Abd Karim

No Matric : 215240

Title of Essay : 'When things get tougher, the tough gets going'

Have you ever felt so alone in your life? As if there is no one around you that you can rely on, talk with, cry on and laugh with. Have you ever been so far away from the people you love the most? Have you ever broken down because you are just not strong enough? Have you?

I have. It was not easy for me to leave everything behind. It was not easy for me to give up everything I have even just for a little while. It was not easy for me to walk away from the things that have been great to me all this time. It was not easy at all that I have broken down into pieces. I am sure it was not easy for you either.

Despite all those, I believe God has better plans for me, for us. Deep down in my heart, I know that my decision to leave my comfort zone is right. I believe that it is worth to leave something behind in order to get something worth gaining for. I know everything will turn out just fine. When life is getting tougher, when the sky seems to fall apart, optimism is what you need to hold on and to get on track with what is going on around you.

I admit that I was once a spoiled brat and I am not proud of it. I realized I need to grow up. I think everyone needs to grow up, including you. Do you know what you need to grow up? What I need is experience. I believe experiences are what lead all of us to think big and outside the box. Experiences are also what make us to become wiser. Some people say the older you get, the wiser you are. I think the fact of how young or old you are does not really matter. This is simply because age is just a number. What really matters is experience. We need to experience a lot in life in order to discover who we are and who we want to be. We need experience to be successful human beings.

Living in a new place where everything feels so strange is definitely a hell of a challenge for a small town girl like me. A challenge is what makes life interesting. We all need to be challenged to find out our capability of handling things. There will be times that you would feel like breaking down, giving up and fearing that you are not going to be successful. I have been there and the thought of regretting the act of giving up scared me more. I would not be able to forgive myself if I chose to quit because of a challenge I could not handle. I am sure you would not be able to forgive yourself either. The best thing I did was pulling myself back together and face that challenge. Whether you are successful or not, it does not matter. What matters is that you have faced your fear.

Life is never easy for me and even for you. Nothing we could ever do to have our life the way we want to because there are things that would always bring us down and make us cry. It is okay to admit that you are not okay. This is because life will be tough for us to face day by day. Yet, with all the experiences we gain and challenges we face, we are going to be tough enough to face the days in this time of our lives.