The world is not a bed of roses. Challenge is part of the normal cause of events in life . They help in defining the individual and shaping him or her for more future challenges. It spurs a person to achieve more in life. I will tell you three stories of the challenges I have faced in this life and by God's grace overcame. These are the challenges I faced when I was in secondary school, the one I faced in the university and the one I faced when my father died. If you read them you might pick one or two lessons from them .

The First is the Challenge I faced while I was in Secondary School

What was the Challenge?

Frankly speaking I never knew I will ever set my foot on school ground. I was no doubt one of the few pupils doing well in my class in primary school. I didn't fall below the third position in class until I wrote my First School Leaving Certificate. My dream was to be a good photographer. This is because of the antics of the school photographer whenever he was invited to snap us at the end of the session. Secondly my father drummed into my ears that he had no money to send me to secondary school, so when my classmates whose parents were well to do by the standard of the rural railway town called Ogbaho, Nkanu North Local Government Area, where we lived at the time, I was less concerned. It was like they were in another planet. I rather boasted that I will be a great photographer and would be very rich before they finish from secondary school. I didn't know that my teachers thought otherwise.
I began to lose my friends in the class when they began to enter secondary school. The one that pained me most was my best friend called David Nnaji whose father was our class teacher then. David got admission into Denis Memorial Grammar School (SMGS) Onitsha and stopped associating with me. He saw himself as a superior being. Worst still it took me one year to be sent to Enugu to learn photography. In fact when I got to Enugu, my father's uncle whom I stayed with changed the initial plans I had with my father. He preferred motor mechanic and took me to a friend of his that will teach me the trade. It was after a week of my stay with the mechanic that he got to know that I wasn't interested in learning it and was brought back to him on a Sunday. The next day he took me to Glamour Photos at Chief Aluum Street, off Obiagu Road Enugu where I started my apprenticeship. I liked the trade at first but one day something that changed my destiny happened. It was during the holidays. A customer whom we later heard was a secondary class four student came with his girlfriend to snap picture. The head apprentice positioned him for the snapshots but the student shifted and our head apprentice said something like an in instruction. He took offence an responded in English language. I can't remember anything he said but we thought it was unpredictable. We expected our head apprentice to respond he could not. He couldn't and you he doesn't know how to respond in English language. Instantly I changed my mind. I must go back home and insist that my father enrol me in school to write Common Entrance Examination and enter secondary school.
I was successful but indeed there was no money. My father was right but I was determined to succeed. I had to do this by engaging in all sorts of odd jobs to earn my scool fees. I slashed and brushed farms for people, I made heaps for yams for people, I worked at construction sites but by God's ispecial grace it ended in praises. I made my papers in WAEC.

How Did You Feel at that Time?

I felt no how because my father had already told me about his financial status which was true. Much later I learnt that both my class teacher and the school headmaster approached him for my sake on the need to bring me back and channel my energy towards education and he agreed but told them money was his constraint. As a kid I also could not appreciate the magnitude of the action being embarked upon and it's significance. I only wanted to belong and was prepared to assist my father in making sure I succeeded.

Did you Receive help from Anyone to Cope?

Apart from the gift of a tin of NIDO milk, Bonvita and a packet of sugar which my younger brother gave me when I was in the boarding house I got nothing else from anybody. My father had nobody I could ask for assistance from. His only sister was not rich. She had her problems to deal with.

How did Overcoming the Challenge Make You Feel

I felt happy that i took a good decision at the time and that it paid off. My experience brought me closer to God. With Him all things are possible. It has emboldened me. Since that period I nolonger fear challenges.

What is your Advice for People Facing this Type of Challenge?

My advice to people facing this type of challenge is to be courageous and focused and prayerful. If they do these they will surmount any challenge in life.

The Second one is the challenge I faced when I was in the University

The university presented unique challenges and these are money, distance and incessant strikes that complicated my status as indigent student. Because I was not properly guided I selected University of Benin as my first choice and University of Nigeria as the second. My choice of course was Law. I didn't know it's expensive. The cost of the learning materials are very high, and the duration of the course was also a problem. A student must go to Lagos at that time for Law School after his First Degree. In Lagos getting accommodation was a problem too but God showed me His grace when he directed me to the family who haboured me for the one year I stayed in Lagos even though I wasn't quite familiar with them.
Money was my biggest challenge in the university. I didn't go straight to the university. I worked in Chidiebere Transport Limited for about 6 years after my secondary school. I was able to save
some money during the period. It's the savings that used to register for my university education but the money finished before I got to 300 level. My problems became severe from that time till the end of my course. I would spend two weeks in school and two in the village and people doubted if I actually was in school. It got to the point I developed banana, plantain and pineapple plantation. I had about a thousand stems of both. When they began to produce my financial problems reduced. To cope I employed my younger sister who managed the farm for me .
There were strikes upon strikes by our lecturers at the time and students protests as well as political crises in the country led to cancellation of a session. You can imagine the implications on poor students

How did you Feel at the Time?

I was much older by this time so I appreciated what I was going through. I didn't feel bad. I knew extended family members I could go to for help but didn't. I saw my ambition for university education as my cross and I carried it happily. I knew my father was not a man of means and had pledged his farm land to help.Though the money he got from it was little but it showed his support. I didn't feel bad. I got closer to God.

Did you Receive Help from Anyone to Cope

I got small help from my father but it didn't go far. What saved me was my creative approach to reducing the problem. I came back during one of the long strikes so as I was thinking about my plight it occurred to me that I could develop a plantain and banana plantation. I tried it and it worked. I didn't use any laborer. I did it alone.

How did Overcoming the Challenge Make You Feel?

Overcoming the above challenge made me strong and more focused in life. I learnt that I need myself to survive. If I have challenges and meet people for assistance and I receive it I will show them gratitude but if I didn't I will still move on with my life. For a person to advance in life he should face his problems and not try to escape. Escapism does not help.

What is Your Advice for People Facing this type of Challenge?

I can say that the best advice is that which a person who wants to survive gives himself. In addition he has to be focused, believe in himself and in his God.

My third Challenge was when My Father Died

My father's death on 14th May 2014 was a huge challenge to me. We were quite close and nothing showed he will die. We had planned a family meeting in December of that year but it was not to be. Death came to him at Holy Cross Hospital Ugwueke, Bende Local Government Area when everyone thought he was recovering. Filling the huge gap he left behind as the family head was challenging. It took me 2 good years to overcome it.

How Did You Feel at the Time?

I felt extremely bad. It was like my world shattered. I didn't know where to start from.

Did You Receive Help from anyone to Cope?

I received moral and monetary help and lots of encouragement. They helped me pick the bits and pieces together.

How did Overcoming the Challenge Make You Feel?

It restored my confidence in myself. It reshaped my view of life

What is your Advice for People Facing this type of Challenge

They should be courageous, focused and have trust in the Lord.

Conclusion

Challenges are normal in life so when you encounter it try to be courageous enough and face it and find solution. This is what makes the difference between the courageous and focused person and an escapist.