Hope for the Meritless

Stuck, as though you can't move or breathe. The moment of truth has arrived, what you prayed and begged for is here. You stare with all intent in your eyes at the white screen. Emotionless. Stuck. Buried in those black characters on that white screen your fate. Ineligible. One word, Five syllables. What did I do wrong? All those years of dragging your GPA to the atmosphere. Those years of quiet solitude in your bedroom trying to study for those exams that will challenge your academic history. Merit, we hear it when we need it. Congratulations you passed, you won. Those words we aim for. Merit, who do we thank? Ourselves. We work for it. But, what if your past doesn't affect your future? Merit. We hear it when we need it. What mattered was one test, one application. And  with great disappointment one error can throw everything away. Wait, don't fret, this isn't where it ends. You realize that one scholarship you didn't get doesn't evaluate who you are. You are what you make  yourself to be. Merit is just what we like to see. Merit isn't everthing. Passion, talent, perserverance. That's what you aim for. That's what you are. One scholarship, one ineligble application, doesn't define what you have worked for all your life. Fail once, fail again, fail as many times till you succeed.  My fate is decided by me. My failures aren't what make me. No Merit? No problem. Strive for your passion, strive for success, merit will follow.