In a small town near London, there lived a passionate girl called Amelia. Ever since she was young, she had dreamt of becoming a doctor. Her father was a wealthy merchant and could easily fund her education. Studying medicine has always been expensive, so only a few people could afford it at the time.

As time passed, Amelia’s passion for the profession grew with each passing day. But then an unlucky day for Amelia’s family came when a storm hit the sea and all her father’s ships, filled with precious goods, drowned. As a consequence, Amelia’s family had to sell many of their belongings to compensate for the loss. However, it seemed that the debts were growing and their loss could not be compensated. What was even worse was when Amelia’s father could not afford his children’s education, so Amelia and her siblings all had to leave their schools.

Amelia was done with her school years and was about to apply for medical college, but as the situation got worse, she knew she had to burst the bubble of her dream profession. The children were very cooperative and they did not complain about anything, although deep down in their hearts, they yearned to go to school.

Now, as Amelia and her siblings were free all day, they began applying for helper jobs in their neighbourhood. Although she tried not to express it, Amelia was heartbroken. She was to be enrolled in the best medical college and now she could not even afford a regular one. Her parents realised her sorrow and tried to console her. They convinced her to apply for a scholarship because she was the topper in her school.

So the next day, Amelia set out to search for a college that was willing to provide her with a scholarship. Unfortunately, the best ones were not offering any scholarships, but Amelia kept her search on and didn’t give in. After a couple of days, she found one medical college willing to offer a scholarship based on merit, and Amelia’s good marks made her eligible for it. However, the college required an admission fee to be paid. Amelia did not want to let go of this opportunity, so she decided to earn and pay the fee.

When she reached home, instead of telling her parents about the admission fee and worrying them, she lied about the scholarship making her education totally free. The next day, after doing breakfast, she set out to search for several jobs and she found a couple of helper jobs in her neighbourhood. She worked all day and in a few days, she was able to make enough money to pay the admission fee. Amelia rushed to the college and got herself enrolled.

Half the term had passed when luckily, Amelia’s father was able to stablise their financial condition. He even offered to shift her to the best college now. However, Amelia was happy in this one and she was among the top students of the college, so she preferred staying there. Amelia realised that it is not necessary that you achieve your dreams through high standards, you can achieve a good living and also your dreams by seizing the small opportunities that come your way.

Amelia learnt the lesson that, “Where there is a will, there is a way.” Although she had learnt it the hard way, she was delighted and proud of herself.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 16th, 2023