User:Sekyi Patrick (iamkingsekyi)

Hello, I’m Patrick. I’m a student living in Kumasi, Ghana. I am a fan of technology, movies, and reading. I’m also interested in innovation and sports. Am a network and a cyber security engineer. Started my basic education at Bomso M/A basic at an early age. Moved with my parents to Atonsu when I was 8 years young. There I enroll in their basic school (ATONSU M/A). Enroll at Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi Technical Institute and Uniyat Institute for IT. I'm 21 years young. https://about.me/iamkingsekyi You can back my campaign with a click on the button above. Currently working with Mastermind Electrical Solutions as their Network Engineer. I spent 3 months in a small country town in California, USA. I was totally pushed out of my comfort zone and from that I learnt a lot about myself. I made amazing friends and had a very nice, supportive host family which has given me great memories. I was lucky enough to go to a few other States and cities and met other exchange students from all over the world. I am thankful to Mr. Kwabena Sekyi for giving me an experience of a life time!I gained so much knowledge while I was on exchange. I meet so many people, made a tun of friends. High school life is more than what you see in movies or on T.V. It was amazing going through the whole experience of high school over there. Its not like you see in the movies, the captain of the cheerleading group does not end up dating the football captain! No it's totally different. My host family was perfect, I was comfortable to go to them if I was upset and could be myself while living with them. My coordinator while I was in Texas Mala Hunt was amazing. She took care of me and made sure things were alright. It was a great and perfect year, and I'm glad I did it.

“One of the best choices I have ever made”

Going on an exchange is one of the best choices I have ever made in my life and especially going at such a young age. I think this experience has matured me and helped me to grow into a more widely cultured person and I am now able to appreciate the USA culture with more knowledge. I would highly recommend going on an exchange to anyone I meet."

Short story about my educational background

As you know, my name is Sekyi, and you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I was the struggling student that I work to help nowadays. Yep, I was “that kid.” Kindergarten was fine, but here are some rave reviews quoted directly from from my 1st grade report cards:

He is a very thoughtful child. I think he is much brighter than he lets on and my hope is that as he matures and his short attention span increases, he will show greater academic progress.

Even in first grade I couldn’t fit in the proverbial box, and it only got worse in later grades. The same sort of comments appeared:

Lazy. Unmotivated. Not living up to his potential. Daydreams. Needs to work harder. Doesn’t try his best. Doesn’t pay attention. Needs to focus.  If he would just apply himself, he’d be okay.

Well, here’s the message I internalize;!  I’m not okay, I’m somehow broken. I’m a failure. I can’t do it well enough, so I’m not enough. Why even try?

Of course I had strengths, but they weren’t built upon enough through traditional schooling, and I needed tools & insights that simply weren’t available back then. So, I struggled, a lot. I felt like a “failure” and felt a great deal of shame.

Patterns

Year after year, my grades slipped. Instead of developing my strengths, I tried to fit into the expectations of the school. Square peg, round hole. My frustration and hopelessness grew and I gave up trying. Unconsciously, it came down to this: school wasn’t worth the effort since I just ended up feeling badly about myself anyhow. I wasn’t able to access learning in the way it was presented and I felt like a failure.

I was tested for learning disabilities in middle school and there were none identified. They said I had a high IQ but there were no programs at the time, and just having that knowledge didn’t help me gain access to any strategies or tools to help.

So I floundered through high school. I did fine the first two years with minimal effort. I always was strong out of the gates, but quickly lost momentum and let my work slide. I couldn’t manage all the minutiae, so I didn’t do much homework or studying. If I did homework, I often forgot to turn it in or lost it. I didn’t know how to be a student in the system. It was as if the other kids got a instruction book on how to be a student, that I was never given. My grades really began to suffer in. D’s and F’s became the norm as I became more apathetic and as my parents became more concerned. They watched helplessly as I lied about how I was doing and as I pushed them away when they tried to help.

My grades were horrible, but somehow I graduated high school

High scores made it possible for me to enter Kumasi Technical Institute in a Electrical/Electronic Engineering program. The program required me to take a practical attachment during vacation. I got 2 C’s and anA's. Ironically, the A's was in elective Skills — I was always able to pull it together when the pressure was on, to make it look like I had things under control. At least it got people off my back for a bit.

I immediately failed the term. I failed the mid term exams as well, was nearly repeater.

I didn’t want to live with my parents. I wanted to be treated like an adult even though I was just a teenager then. I ended up living with my brother, one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. Tried again at next term. Same pattern started strong, optimistic with new resolve.

But things went downhill fast. Failed again.

By this time I was really hopeless and suffering internally. I felt like a complete failure and knew I would never be able to accomplish anything in life. What went wrong? Why was I broken? Why try? I gave up.

TURNING IT AROUND

One day, after months of self-pity, I hurt so badly that I decided I would do whatever I had to do to give it a real try once again. I was willing to do anything, including asking for help repeatedly until I got the help I needed. This was the hardest thing of all. I began to change, slowly but surely. Momentum was building. I was having little successes

I ended up doing pretty well. Through some twist of fate, I graduated from Kumasi Technical University. Me, the once “hopeless failure”. Through all of this, I learned beyond a shadow of a doubt that kids don’t have to suffer, that they can be successful and most importantly, happy.

Nowadays I love my life. I’ve build a good relationships, a career that I’m passionate about, a healthy lifestyle, a positive outlook, fulfilling hobbies, and most importantly, I’m pretty happy. So, in the greatest humility, I feel infinitely grateful that I’ve found my strengths. It’s my hope that I can share them here in such a way that it helps more and more kids have increasingly better lives.

BE YOURSELF kids

Sekyi Patrick (iamKingSekyi)