The Stars Made Her Smile.

"Will I ever be able to get through this?" Lucy asked herself as she stared at the stars, with tears about to fall from her eyes.

Some moments ago, she had faced her departmental results board and eagerly used her eyes to search for her name, praying and hoping inwardly that she wouldn't fail any core course. According to the school's guidelines regarding waving of failed courses, when certain academic requirements are met by a final year student, and the student happens to fail a minimum of one elective course or a maximum of two elective courses, it would be waved and need not be rewritten, but a failed core course would have to be rewritten. Lucy desperately needed to pass all her courses, especially the core ones. If she failed any core course, she would have to pay school fees for a full session no matter the number of courses she had failed and write the exams with her juniors at the same time. If she didn't pass, she would have to watch with shame as her mates graduate and leave her behind to face an extra year that she might not have the money to pay for. 

She finally located her name, and her heart began to beat fast. She carefully followed the series of grades aligned to her name and saw that she had failed two core courses. At that moment, it looked as if her once rapid beating heart had completely stopped beating. She was overwhelmed. Around her were her coursemates shouting for joy. They had completed their degree program and were now free to go to the next stage of their academic lives. Oh! How they jumped and laughed with joy.

Lucy was a good natured lady and wanted the best for everyone, but she just couldn't handle their joy and laughter while it seemed as if she was sentenced to one year imprisonment with hard labour.

Lucy was a beautiful lady of 21. She loved nature and liked to hang out with the few friends she had.

She was the first child of the five children born to her parents, and that reality had stirred in her a desire to be a trendsetter in achieving greatness in her family.

Her parents worked really hard to rise a little above the poverty line and catered for the family to the best of their abilities.

Some people considered the fact that Lucy attended a standard University as a miracle because of her parents annual income.

Lucy wasn't the lazy type so she got few jobs to help herself while in school. She could not have solely depended on the monthly allowance her parents usually send to her.

Things however didn't always go smoothly with Lucy Davidson. They were days she didn't have enough food and money, but that didn't quench the passion in her to succeed.

Lucy's life had a remarkable change in her third year in school. She met Harry, an engineering student in his fourth year in school and they started a romantic relationship. It was love at first sight for her. She couldn't believe her luck! He was tall and handsome. His speeches to her showed he was well mannered. Harry was the first person apart from her parents to tell her she was beautiful. They would always hangout together and exchange text messages when they couldn't meet. In short, he was her everything.

In her diary, Lucy referred to Harry as 'my Painter', because she really thought he added colour to her once boring life.

Harry and Lucy continued their relationship without hitches until the first semester of Lucy's fourth and final year in school. At this time, she had began to notice that he was withdrawing from her little by little. She tried her best to find out why he had stop caring for her and spent less time with her, but he would only give flimsy excuses. 

About four months later, at the time when even lazy final year students started to show great zeal for studies and project work, Harry decided to sever the remaining strands of relationship that connected him to Lucy. It was a devastating cut to Lucy. What bothered her the most was not knowing and understanding why he had chose to end the relationship.

Few weeks after the separation, Lucy fell into the pit of anxiety and was drowning in the sea of self pity.

She became afraid of everything, she could not trust anyone, she was not certain of anything and she eventually lost focus on her academics and life.

Her final exams came and it was a great struggle. 

Now informed with the contents of her fourth year, second semester result, Lucy painfully looked for a lonely place where she could unburden her heart, undisturbed. She found herself in the female hostel and looked for an open space where she could stay. The suitable place she found was around a tree. Everyone seemed to have avoided that area that night, and that was the very reason it was attractive to her. She was quite scared to sit directly under the tree at night, so she just sat down on the ground, at the edge of the tree branches. That done, she put her face on her lap and wept profusely. Why had this happened to her? What would her parents say when they found out she had failed? Where would she get money to pay her school fees, since her parents may not be able to help her out this time? Was she worthless? These questions and more ran through her mind.

She tried to motivate herself with quotes on not giving up, but it didn't work.

She finally stopped crying and gazed at the stars?

"Will I ever be able to get through this?' she asked herself.

Lucy had always wanted to shine like a star, but mistakes, dark thoughts and situations had always seemed to cover her shine.

The stars shone really bright that night. And if she were asked to describe them, she would have described them as little diamonds fastened to a big, black blanket. She left her pain for a moment and thought about the stars. They didn't look intimidated by the darkness around them, they were just themselves, shining bright and illuminating the dark sky.

'What if I don't allow this failure to hold me down or stop my shine?" Lucy asked herself. "I really desire to shine and be a light to others. In fact, I dare to shine", she told herself.

Lucy got to understand that night that she had given too much to Harry, especially her ability to be happy. She had never believed she was beautiful until he told her so, so when he left, she thought her beauty and value left with him. It had caused her not to believe in herself and to feel worthless.

She needed to be strong. Her parents and siblings were counting on her, they believed in her and valued her more than gold. Would she disappoint them or wallow in the negatives of a past confusing relationship? No she wouldn't. She would choose to hope for the best and love herself for who she was.

That very night, she took back her happiness, beauty and value. Those were hers to keep. It wasn't easy at first, but she finally believed in herself and reinvigorated her dying dreams.

That night was not only one of the most painful and longest nights she had ever had, but it was one of the most liberating ones.

Things do turn around for good. Lucy was able to get the school fees for the extra year and cleared the courses she had failed. Over time, with dedication and hard work, she became a renowned biologist. She got married to a man she frequently referred to as the 'love of her life', and he didn't bear the name 'Harry'.

Five years into being a well known Biologist in her country, she was invited to conduct a seminar in her Alma mater, the reputable university she had graduated from.

After the seminar and meetings with old friends and lecturers, it was getting late so she quickly hurried off to see a dear friend's sister in the female hostel before flying back home the next day. Entering into the hostel, she met with an old aquaintance. She couldn't ignore it. It was the good old tree she had once sat under to weep. She went towards the tree and sat in the same fashion she had done years ago.

She then looked up to the sky and saw stars, it made her to smile. Indeed she was able to get through it - from darkness into light.