I just got back from work and had this huge inspiration to write on this hence I will do so. 

I'm pretty sure I have mentioned many times how toxic my former school was, so much that I belittled myself when getting the firm offer to go to Warwick.

They said that Warwick is a very easy university to get offers from. To be fair, in my batch, the principal's daughter got offers from Harvard and Oxford so there really was a standard that we needed to achieve at that point, so getting an offer from Warwick was like 'meh' to people.

After three years, I can guarantee you that Warwick is AMAZING. Yes of course, I remember that time in first year when I was partnered up with a person for a Macro discussion and said he doesn't know how to answer the question, then proceeds to answer the question when the tutor asks for it. Must be nice to lie to a dumb Asian hijabi hahaha. I guess I was just unlucky. But otherwise, the people I've met have been the most positive people ever. When I actually made the effort to go try out for societies apart from the Malaysian society (I still love this society, of course), when I actually made it to my first swimming session, when I actually applied for the job as a Student Ambassador, when I signed up for the female development programme, Sprint, and when I decided to take an interdisciplinary module on wellbeing, I honestly have found people who gave such a positive impact to my life. If you are a Warwick Uni student reading this, thank you. You have, in one way or another, helped me become the person I am today. The people I've met these past two years have really empowered me, and I think empowerment among the community really is the key to having the best time of your life.

Lately I've been working for Widening Participation events. Widening Participation is basically an initiative by Warwick University, among other Russell University groups to encourage those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to attend university. 

These events are honestly so useful because participants of these events will be able to enter universities with a lower entry requirement (say if the uni requires you to get ABB for A-levels, you only need to get BBB when you're a participant of the event). They give you access to work placements, bursaries to study in university, and support for you to write personal statements. Honestly, how cool is that? More importantly, they get more priority from the recruitment officers to be accepted into the university.

The person in charge also mentioned that they would receive at least 10, 000 personal statements for one course.

Let that sink in, I think we really need to step back and try to think about how lucky we are to be in a university. It means that, they will first choose those from the WP events, then us. Out of 10,000 people, they chose us. It could be anything really. In job offers, or education offers. I guess this, in particular, is dedicated to those who think that they have failed just because they did not manage to achieve their targets, and proceeds to criticise themselves and their self-worth. 

To at least be able to have that opportunity to be educated. It doesn't matter which uni you go to. If it's in Malaysia, or the UK, the US etc. 

The fact that you are pursuing tertiary education is already so amazing and I am 99% sure my friends are either pursuing tertiary education or at least considering to go for one. 

I remember this because I know some people are like, "oh I dapat ni je. Tak hebat mana pun", "I'm only in this [...] place. I'm not that great." This is what people call imposter syndrome. 

Well, stop that. I know it's hard to stop criticising yourself when you see others having the best time of their lives, living what you thought was your dream. I remember being inspired by this one person so much that I wanted to be exactly in her position, and when I failed to do so, I literally said, "she's having the life I've always wanted."

I think this in particular happens mostly to those who have always achieved what they've wanted. But I'm blessed to be given challenges, I am happy that I have not achieved all that I want, because it taught me to be more humble and it taught me resilience. More importantly, it taught me to be grateful, regardless of any situation, good or bad. I'm not saying it is easy to get out of a bad situation, I understand that it takes a goddamn long time to get out of it, and believe me when I tell you the amount of  times I beat myself up for not being able to get out of a bad situation faster than I should. All I'm trying to say is, you can get out of it. Whatever you're facing. You just need to reflect on yourself. And see how far you've come. 

I guess this post is really dedicated to myself, and a lot of other people who belittle themselves or their achievements, even if you don't admit it, and this post is for you. 

Just think, about how blessed you are to be able to do what you're doing, to be able to meet people whom you may cherish for the rest of your lives. Stop belittling yourself, you're not doing yourself any favour. It doesn't matter what stage of education, or what level, or what university, or what type of job you are in, The fact that you're doing something, that you have the opportunity to explore your potential is already something. So always, be grateful.