Life will sometimes feel like a fight!

The punches, jabs, and hooks will come in the form of challenges,
obstacles and failures. Yet if you stay in the ring and learn from those past fight, at the end of each
round, you’d be still standing.

Contest chair, fellow fighters, can you think of a time when life tried to knock you down? Who was your
toughest opponent? Most often our most challenging opponent is ourselves.

Round 1, the educational system in the new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic made a paradigm shift in
the global shape and the field of education is not an exemption to this 180-degree turn. From the usual
“good morning class, please open your book to page 38” to “please give me a thumbs up if you can see
the screen.” We are now divided by screens and the question whether the learning process is still
authentic now holds a million-dollar reward. Another challenge is on the internet connectivity and the
ability to be engaged in the world wide web. Undeniably, many of the students were not born with silver
spoons on their mouth and paying for internet fees adds more burden to their shoulders as well as to
their parents.

Round 2, economic crisis. My parents have been staying at home, spending time with us mostly all day
doing nothing and sadly being UNEMPLOYED for 12 long months. It was just only last year when we had
our super fun gathering when all of a sudden the heavy weight champion came in and delivered a
knockout blow to our used to be life. BOOOM! Quarantine.

Round 3, relationship. I have been in a relationship with someone I consider to be as my soulmate. The
love of my life. My best friend, she was so fun too. We have been together for 12 long, beautiful,
amazing weeks. You heard it right, weeks, quadrant-flings. Yes, it was true that the distance because of
the pandemic crushed the promised we had for one another. At first I would spend the rest of my life
with here. I was on the row, I was on fire , I was unstoppable. Yet… I lost. I was crushed!

After going three rounds and taking hit after hit, I was ready to throw in the towel. I was down in the
count, 6…..7…….8…….!

When was the last time life knocked you down? Who was that lifeline that you reach out to help you
stand back up? Was it your family? Your friends? Or did you hold on to your faith? Maybe you’ve never
been knocked down but you’ve seen your family members take a devastating blow. Were you the
lifeline that they have been reaching out to help them stand back up? Were you the coach in the corner
saying get up, get up stand up? As I gather all the strength within myself to pick myself back up and
stand. Instead of looking into a mirror of defeat, it became a window of possibilities. I got back in the
ring, I attended all my online classes, I finished all my modules while also doing tiktok
(Pamparampampam, pamparampampam), I submitted all what is expected from me and yeah boyy, I
got SUPER AMAZING GRADES. Yeah! After almost giving up with the difficulties of my studies, I am still
standing.
After a year of unemployment and no constant source of income, the economy has been gradually
reviving and thus providing jobs for people and that includes my parents. Despite the difficult situations
we have been into, we are still standing.

As with regard to my relationship, I am still…in training. Phew! I have not found my perfect pair, but this
is fed live on facebook. So yeah, there are thousands of pretty girls out there, call me (gesture na kwela
na call me). After my heart break, here I am still standing.

My challenge for you is to stay in the ring, whether you are a fighter, or a coach- if you’re on the side of
the ring coaching, or inside that ring throwing those jabs, those hooks. When that final bell rings, DING
DING DING! The fighter and the coach will raise their hands saying. WE ARE THE CHAMPION MY
FRIEND!!! I’M STILL STANDING. YEAH YEAH YEAH! We’re still standing, we’re still flying, these time on a
higher altitude. Stay on that ring and even after you take a few hits, use what you learned from those
previous fights and at the end of the round, you fly higher and you’ll be still standing.