am from a family of 6 team, i was not born into a rich home but we are positive about everything, i have a large extended family that are well to do and very okay, my parent always want me and my other simbles to mix up with the relatives go to their house and all that however i didn't enjoy this as all the bad things i learnt in life was through going to spend holidays with friends and relatives anytime i decline not going my mom will tell me its because she wants me to be exposed and know how to manage a big house so that i don't get used to our own small house and be limited in thinking she wants me to see good life so i can pursue it and choose what is better, she is right but it had bad effects on me too (story for another day)
Back to my main story we do have family gatherings during festive season where both the poor and the rich meets i always love to be with my cousins and I am always proud of them, but there is always this differences between us its either when i dress they mock my dressing,my look and all that so anytime we are together i will just lay low and be acting like house girl, on this particular day i n my cousins went out together and the oldest among us was talking about beautiful people in the family. She mentioned all the girls name and my name was not there , 😂 so i asked what about me she said " you are very ugly,when God was creating beautiful people you weren't there, we are talking about beautiful people and you asking about you " i left there very sad 😔 and i kept the mentality of i was a ugly person for a long ,after many years we were all through with secondary education and it was time to scale higher, My Aunty Called me and asked what was my plan, i was very happy hoping she would help me achieve my dreams So i told her i want to further my education in the University and she said you know your parents ain't rich and you want to go to University, why not take per time form in college of education and you will work alongside and sponsor your education ☺ Hmm i replied thank you ma but i am going to the University, few hours later my dad came home to tell my uncle said he should not bother to waste money on my education that i should go and learn a skill, that he doesn't see me as a brilliant person , but i told my dad i am going to the university, so i searched out for a job and I was getting paid,i took jamb and made it just once, i chose Lagos state University, again my uncle said even people who are better than you didn't get admission there don't bother yourself, i choose not to accept those words about my career, i said to myself even if i am Ugly and poor my achievement should be beautiful ,when the list came out My name was on the Government lists📃 , again my Uncle said it was a fake admission that i should not bother myself, i almost accepted that comment but something in me told me to verify that even if its fake let me still be sure abi nah , no money no connection nothing and name appeared in govt list 😂 so i decided to try my registration, there was no school fees i began calling families na story, on this fateful day i just met my neighbor and he asked me what i was doing for now so i told him i gained admission and i needed to pay 25k and he said no no no you are a brilliant girl at just 1 sitting you made it this far and he gave me 50k pay ur fees and change your wardrobe. I was very happy when i got home my dad already got 18k for me as well so i had more than excess. I went ahead with everything and it was successful, i confirmed i was a student, during my Uni days i had many platform of becoming a model, i had love to be one while i was a child until the day my cousin told me i was ugly and i never dreamt of modelling since then, even when i was encouraged by friends i will tell them i don't want people to make jest of me because I am ugly 😂 but deep inside me i loved it but instead i focus on other things i was learning fashion designer and this my cousin told me why will you even think of tailoring lines how much will it put on your table instead of you to focus on ur studies and after school you work with your certificate and get paid monthly but i told her its not affecting my studies n i continued with studies n skill acquisition. When i wanted to write my project it was another struggle i began to call families to borrow laptop, i called an uncle being his line if he could help me get an affordable laptop he said go and steal it nah 😔 i started going about some said they can't release it (pls note i do not hold it against this people i am just trying to tell the world what you accept is what you will pocess) so i extended my search n decided i was never gonna ask anything from relatives again, my project defend was less than a month everyone had submitted and i am not even done with my write up ..luckily for me a friend that we have not spoken for a longTime called me to ask about my project, i told him i wasn't done because I don't have a laptop and i cannot afford to go type at the biz center 😔 and he said , you can have my laptop,i have printer and lot of papers i have a standby Gen in my hostel come immediately don't worry i have snacks that you will take so you won't sleep at night while typing because now i have less than a week and that was how i did my write up and on submitting to my supervisor she almost rejected as the deadline was over , but she accepted to help me and said you are on your own with the external supervisor because he already had others own and you are just bringing yours a day to your defense , i sha beg her and i was the last person to defend immediately i finished i ran home because i didn't want to feel ashamed not quite long i was just getting series of calls from my supervisor , HOD and friends with congratulations oo Otukoya infact you really amazed me you had the highest mark for your project in the whole department 😂 is this a joke no it was real..i served in Lagos and on the first day of My Ppa i met my fake admission Uncle and i said uncle it was real.
Back to my ugly story, i got married also in My final year. I searched everywhere for a job with my certificate but to know avail so i brought out my fashion design certificate and job was chasing me 😂 i got a job in one of the most common bridal shop in UAE, Mynamour wedding dress Dubai, (the same skill i was adviced to drop is now doing more than putting foods on my table) months later the company needed to attend exhibition and needed a model it was a late planning and my boss just looked at me out of 10 ladies and said do you you will make a good model ☺ at this time instead of my usual i can't I said yes I can , I am beautiful and i have got the shape even though i have given birth. But i stopped bringing myself down i had the confidence i threw away my shyness, i rejected the word Ugly..Confidence is Beauty..i accepted positivity
i dressed up and evryone wants to take a picture with me , other brands wants me to model for them as well i now started doing shakara... the pictures below were taken with phone. No editing some with makeup i did myself and yes i am a Mother..
Moral
*People can say anything it's left for you to accept the negative or positive sides never allow mere words discouraged you..
*You don't need the approval of people to follow your dreams
*No one will ever be responsible for your failure its just a matter of going beyond your comfort zone, extend your search someone out there is willing to help don't die in silence.
If you believe you can you will
*Be very careful what you say to others words can heal and it can destroy.