Popular TV personality Lady Njemeh-Bah has visited her former school Bansang upper basic and took time to advise the students about their education.
Below is her full speech:
“Where did time go? It was two decades ago that I was where you all are today. But it felt like yesterday. This life journey has to start from somewhere. And it is often very easy to start and start from somewhere.
It’s not how you started the race but how you finished. The huddles between the starting and the finishing points speak volumes about one’s resolve, hope, determination, and tenacity.
My story isn’t unique as many before me shared similar experiences but it’s the choices I made that set me apart from many. I was raised by a single mother who worked hard to make ends meet. Life was difficult at some point and I had to become a domestic servant and a street vendor to make a living. For any young girl that age, being forced to shoulder responsibilities that was reserved for adults to be put on a child was so much a burden that could break anyone.
So you can understand when I had to drop out of school three times and became a victim of early marriage at 16 years. At 17 years old, I became a mother. I was a child, having to become a parent and provider for another child. As a matter of fact, even after leaving this country to the United States, my struggles to adjust, settle and be able to alive and stay afloat was still a challenge. I was at some point homeless while in the USA.
That was the start of my journey but I refused that to define me. Today, I’m a graduate, a homeowner and business owner. My story is unique to me but we all have our struggles. And this is what propelled me to write an autobiography to share my story with the rest of the world.
Bansang Upper Basic and Senior Secondary School is my alma mater and it is therefore very fitting to share my story with the current student body with the hope of inspiring them. Remember Life offers you three letters: BCD. B is when you were born, D represents when you will die and C is the choices to make between B and D.
You have no control or influence over B or D. You do have a lot of say in C, the choices you make. While you are here, between B and D, make diligent, deliberate and smarter choices in what you do to make your family, your community and our World better than we found it. Your generation ought to be the beacon of hope for humanity. All necessary tools and opportunities are at your disposal. Use them to your advantage. Make best use of this institution as it prepares you for the world ahead of you, and come back to give back this very school that must have given you a lot.”
