I am in my final year of university. Even though I can still graduate with a good grade, I have failed two things in the past, so I felt my chances of failing were much higher than those who did not have to re-sit in previous years.

With the overwhelming number of deadlines before Christmas break, I decided I deserved a bit of a rest before embarking on my next assignment.

As usual, the week quickly turned into a few weeks, especially with Christmas and New Year getting in the way, and I had yet to even have a few ideas in mind for the report.

With only a week to develop an idea for my report and considering the amount of research yet to be done, I began to have doubts. I was also out of the country, living at my parents’ house, and could not attend university tutorials. I knew I could be creative and come up with an idea, but I did not know how everything would fit together.

This is when The Secret made its first appearance. One of the tutors was holding tutorial sessions over the phone, which meant I was able to get feedback and advice even though I was miles away from campus!

As the deadline got closer, I was once again panicked and doubted my idea several times. I felt it was too late to turn back because I believed in the idea, but it was too hard to estimate what impression that I would make on the markers marking my work. I feared the worst during the last 48 hours before I had to hand it in. I re-read the brief and was second guessing myself. If I failed, I would not be able to graduate with everyone else, and I would have to retake it in the summer after graduation. All my summer plans would be put on hold. All of these things were running through my head! At that time, all I wanted to do was pass so I could move on!

I eventually handed it in. Everyone I knew reassured me and said things will work out. I even told people about my report ideas and I seemed to get positive responses but a part of me still felt insecure.

One night, my sister and I were speaking over Facetime. As we both love to draw, we drew out pictures of my graduation and our holidays and wrote down the grades we wanted. I stuck these across my wall and saved them as screensavers on my iPhone. Whenever I had a moment to spare, I stared at them and wrote in my diary about how grateful I was to have the support of everyone around me.

By results day, I felt I would pass, but my emotions were definitely on and off. That was why I was so overwhelmed when I clicked on my results online to see that I had not only passed, but I received a First!!! I literally could not believe it! It was also my first time getting a First in a report! This was also what I considered to be one of the most difficult and abstract assignments! And to top it off, my sister also got high grades for the exams and essays she was struggling with!

All the above has taught me that The Secret most definitely does work. I have always thought of myself as a negative person in most situations. Still, it really proves how much positivity and gratitude can outweigh the thoughts of even the most pessimistic of outlooks.

Now I am one step closer to graduating, and even though I now doubt parts of my major dissertation, I feel it is possible to use and keep The Secret in mind. Hopefully, I’ll be writing another story here in July after I have graduated with a good grade and a successful, completed dissertation!

Of course, I want to thank all the contributors to The Secret and the secret story sharers on here. You have all given me hope in The Secret. It has worked, and I know it will continue working. Thank you, thank you, and thank you for reading!