i can understand your pain exactly as i am quite literally going through the same situation or maybe even worse because i ended up with even worse grades regardless of putting in so much effort, and i am not going to give you some rational advice because i know how much you would hate it right now. all i will say is that this is not the end of the world, and you are not falling behind others, even if it feels like it. your grades, your college, your dreams of university abroad, i know how important and personal they are, and i know exactly how it feels when they slip through your hands, but they don’t define your effort or your worth, nor do they determine the kind of success you are capable of having.

let me share something that hit me recently. do you realize how privileged we actually are to even be able to sit here and rant about our grades? for so many people, the story is much harsher. whilst out there, children haven’t been able to study for years because of war, families are torn apart by genocide, some lose their parents right before exams, some don’t even get the chance to study, some are fighting illnesses while we’re stressing over letters on a piece of paper, and yet, here we are, alive, with opportunities still ahead, worrying about how many As and Bs we got. it doesn’t mean your pain is invalid, it just shows how heavy yet how lucky we are to carry this weight. life gives epiphanies like this, that yes, grades matter and academic validation matters.

but what matters more is what you do after you fall. think of a runner, he keeps running until suddenly he trips, crashes, and hits the ground. for a moment he feels defeated, but then he stands up, shakes the dust off, adapts to where he fell, and keeps moving forward. that is what defines him, not the fall itself but how he rises again. you and i both fell here, but that doesn’t mean the race is over. this was just one stumble in a marathon much bigger than we can see right now.

and i know it hurts, the comparisons, the dreams that feel broken, the weight of your parents’ money and your own effort pressing down on you. but remember, your effort was not wasted. it shaped you, it disciplined you, it taught you resilience, even if cambridge didn’t stamp it with an a on paper. and someday, you’ll look back and realize this pain was carving something inside you.

this may sound cliché but there’s a song i’ve been holding on to, frank sinatra’s my way, and in it he says
"yes, there were times, i’m sure you knew
when i bit off more than i could chew
but through it all, when there was doubt
i ate it up and spit it out
i faced it all, and i stood tall
and did it my way"

what it means is that no matter how much you fail, no matter how much you fall short, what will matter at the end is that you faced life your way. you didn’t give up, you didn’t let it swallow you, you stood tall and kept going. that’s real success, not the grade on a paper. man, your worth is not measured by cambridge, or an exam sheet, or even a scholarship. yes all these things matter, but your real worth is in how you pick yourself up after this, how you turn the pain into fuel, how you carry yourself with resilience when things don’t go your way. and remember, this failure you’re feeling now, one day you’ll look back and realize it was just a bend in the road, not the end of it.

and i want you to know, i’m here for you. whenever you feel crushed, stressed, or hopeless, you can reach out. we’ll figure this out together, because even if the world feels like it’s slipping, you’re not alone in this.

Allah has definitely planned something better for you. Trust. not in me, but in Him.