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I was almost sixteen years old when, on a Saturday afternoon, I was helping my father on the farm. As the sun was beating down on my back, he turned to me and said, “I don’t have enough money to put you through school, you’ll have to quit.” That bit of news stung my mind like burning acid. My thoughts directly strayed to my seven siblings who would also have their education halted. My father’s callused hand and rough voice brought me out of my trance when he held me close and bellowed in my face: “You will marry Joseph’s daughter and join both farmlands!” he demanded, wiping the swear trickling down his forehead. Joseph was our next door neighbor and his daughter was seven years older than me. Standing there, I could imagine the life I would lead. I would marry a farm girl, raise seven or eight children in extreme poverty, and deprive them of the education they deserved. It was at that moment when I decided that money should not be an impediment. The next day, I summoned up all my courage and talked to the school principal. We talked for a while and made a deal; I would be allowed to finish school in return for teaching elementary classes.
Three years later, I got my high school diploma. I was one of the few students who graduated that year. I can still remember the pain- stricken faces of my classmates as they took in the fact that they wouldn’t be able to leave the countryside but would go back to the farm and work. I struggled for money for many years later and couldn’t make it to college as I had always dreamed. I realized that despite my determination to surmount the obstacle of scarcity, it was actually the biggest barrier standing between me and my goal. I also had to meet my obligation to put my brothers in school again and pay for their tuitions, which was another challenge I had to win.
Five months after I graduated, I met a man who owned a school of design. I suggested working for him while I took some lessons. Eventually, he agreed, and after a whole year of condensed training, I was able to improve my skills considerably. Later that same year, I had the chance to exhibit my work at the school fair. There, a man named Nicolas saw my work and offered me a job as a graphic designer. This worked for some time, and with the money I saved, I couldn’t afford an education for my self, but could at least temporarily pay for two of my sibling’s school fees. A few months later, however, Nicholas contacted me only to let me know that he was no longer interested in working with me. I was a bit disillusioned, but no less determined. I set off staunchly in my journey towards the future only to be faced with another series of deceptions; I simply couldn’t afford paying for my tuitions neither in my country nor overseas, as I hadn’t enough money saved nor was any person or institution willing to support me.
Despite the difficulties I encountered on my way, my dream of completing my education remained as vivid as ever. I knew I was going to make it because I believed in my potential and in the abundance of opportunities. Years later, I found myself getting a job at a school as a supervisor. The job gave me the chance to pay for painting courses at the Lebanese University as well as transfer my other siblings to the school where I worked. I worked hard for four years to maintain my academic status among the top three in my class. When I graduated, I was offered a scholarship to study at New York University (NYU). In New York, I continued painting and worked towards my Ph.D.
Today I am 40 years old, and I am the head of the Arts department at NYU. It was a long and steep way to make it here. However, the fulfillment and gratification I feel, knowing that I succeeded, is unexplainable. I am the person I am today because of my ambition and dreams, which I was able to realize without the help of the Lebanese schools, universities, or government. I still feel a heavy burden on my heart when I think about my childhood friends, the students who didn’t have enough money to graduate and those who didn’t have the chance to go to school. My experience has taught me that education is the greatest gift in life, the gift that empowers humans and offers them a life of dignity. Today, I give money to educate people, help improve schools and establish new ones. Every nation and every government should do the same. Education should be a goal that every human being should work to achieve and help achieve. It should be the Goal of all millenniums.
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Oriane Chamoun
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Comments
Excellent writing for Inspiration Abdul Khalique | May 14th, 2005
Excellent. I really impressed by your thoughts that you have and want .
Your writing simply best and give inspiration to erveryone.
oriane | Jun 5th, 2005
thank you
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