No Regrets

When I was a child, my mother would tell me to never give up and that nothing was impossible. Like all other children, I was ignorant of the hardships that I would face as I grew older so frankly, I never bothered to understand my mother’s words.

When I was in grade 8, my mother signed me up for my grade 10 piano exam. Since that day, I would constantly complain to her that I couldn’t do it. “It’s too hard,” and “I can’t do this anymore,” were the two lines I would repeat every day during piano class. The music selections were extremely difficult to play and I struggled every day. Now that I think about these events in close detail, I believed I truly wanted to get my level 10 certificate for piano because who wouldn’t want an achievement like that? However, the hard journey to get to the certificate “convinced” me that it wasn’t worth it, and I hated the piano. 

Out of all my piano teacher’s students, I was extremely lacking. I was not musically talented. This only deepened my belief that I couldn’t do it. I would beg my mom every day to quit piano, but she just wouldn’t let me. In the end, my only option was to practice. We would argue frequently and she would just keep telling me to “practice hard and never give up.” Left with no choice, I practiced around two hours every day. My teacher would often scold me, but I withstood it because I had to. Every day, I would compare myself to her top students and I felt ridiculed and embarrassed.

 I remember my exam day clearly. It was an extremely hot, summer day. My hands were trembling because I was so nervous. The exam felt like a dream. When it finished, it took me a while to digest it. I knew I definitely didn’t do as well as my teacher wanted me to. However, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered to me was that I managed to complete the exam, and it wasn’t impossible like I had imagined. 

My exam marks came out one month later. I got a 75. Of course, it isn’t an extremely good mark, but to me, it was alright. What truly mattered to me was that I managed to pass. My mom taught me a valuable lesson, like she always does. Never give up halfway. If I did give up halfway, I can definitely envision myself in the future. I would definitely regret not getting that certificate. Being able to play grade 10 piano has become part of my pride and confidence. 

As a human being, it is natural for us to back down when something hard stumbles in our way. Fear hinders our way to the things we truly want. But what’s important is that we fight for the goals we want to achieve. At the end of the day, it’s better to work diligently and have no regrets.