“Dear, forget about what people are saying and focus on your work. Work so hard that you will make a brilliant pass,” my father encouraged me when he realised what was happening. This somewhat calmed me down. In the end, I passed my Common Entrance exam with flying colours and gained admission to Holy Child School (High School) in Cape Coast. I must say that I made most of my childhood friends in Tema and still keep in touch with many of them. These childhood experiences helped build my resilience. A Great Loss Arriving home from school one day, I noticed that the house was unusually quiet and that people had sombre expressions on their faces. “Your grandma has passed,” our mother said quietly, and we all burst into tears. We were deeply devastated. My paternal grandmother was very influential in our lives. Not only was I named after her, but we would also miss her for many other reasons. Holy Child School Arriving at Holy Child, an all-girls’ Catholic school, and being welcomed by 14 other roommates in my St. Cornelius dormitory was comforting. We had so much fun and mischief together. I was also an athlete for the school and made many friends at other boarding schools in the vicinity. I recall winning the 400m track event for several years and teaming up with Brenda Bannerman and Vivian Codjoe to win the 4x100m relay multiple times. Through sports, I learned resilience during those years at Holy Child. One day, during my sixth form, my classmate Akua Asante approached me and grumbled, “As for me, I can’t do biology. Period! All this reading, reading is not for me.” It was as if she was reading my mind. Even though I was an avid reader, I found biology too burdensome. I was technically minded and really enjoyed maths. I remember the late Mr. Ninson, our maths teacher, telling me that I was very good at maths and to watch out for minor mistakes. That advice really stuck with me. However, by the time we reached sixth form, Holy Child had stopped offering maths and only offered the traditional physics, chemistry, and biology combination. 14 The Birthday Journal
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