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Terence Mapuka Cool Lifestyle Correspondent
Last week thousands graduated at the University of Zimbabwe. One of the major highlights was a young girl who was making history as the youngest ever graduate at UZ. By 2012, she was the youngest student to be enrolled in university in Africa and I stand to be corrected if she is not the youngest graduate in Africa at 17.

It was a proud moment for every Zimbabwean who values education, every parent who wishes well for his or her children and every student who believes that such potential is buried somewhere deep within them.

I have had the pleasure of working with Maud Chifamba at zwTEENS. She is passionate about education especially for the girl child. However there is something about the young history maker that I would like to share with you.

Her story has been shared many times and her background has stood out. She is not coming from a well up family but she is an orphan with a disadvantaged background.

Yet she has managed to accomplish so much that even Forbes magazine put her at number five on the Top 100 Youngest Powerful Women in Africa in 2012! She was not limited by her background, you should not be limited as well.

Some of you right now are looking at their current status and thinking nothing good can come out. Do not be discouraged by what is there now, you have the opportunity to define your future.

The circumstances you are in should push you to aim higher and design the future you want, the future of your dreams. There are so many people who made a difference coming from disadvantaged backgrounds and you can too. It is all about the determination you have to make a difference.

Maud has used academic excellence to change her life for the better. She did not go to a fancy school, she did not have a standard classroom in primary school and yet she made it. You already have a school with standard classrooms, what should stop you?

So maybe your thing is not academic excellence! Not a problem, we all have something we are good at. If we pay attention to ourselves more we will identify something we are good at.

If we focus on that and commit to doing our best we will change our life story. Some might say our environment is not conducive. There is a saying which says it is in the eye of a storm that the eagle soars high, in an environment with lots of challenges that is where you easily identify solutions to solve the problems.

We need water solutions, energy solutions, employment solutions and business solutions among others. What are you prepared to solve? The solutions are amongst us, we have to pay attention. So the challenge is with us, what solutions do we have? Our background should not limit us but catapult us to great achievements.

When you are in an environment that is rosy, your creativity is not stirred as everything seems to be alright, no need to change anything. However when the environment is bad then solutions are needed and your creativity can be activated. I will leave you with this statement that encourages me;

When faced with DOOM and GLOOM, remember there is always ROOM to BLOOM! Terence Mapuka is with zwTEENS an organisation which helps teens with career choices. You can reach Terence on 0772101601,[email protected] or visit their website www.zwteens.com