The question was: Describe someone whom you look up to.
And this post today, will be my answer to that question.
A little background info(true story) of this person that I looked up to, Vernon:
Vernon's mom was 7 months and two weeks pregnant. She was living in a horrible place and often attempted to kill herself because of family issues. But what stopped her from taking her life, was her very first baby, Vernon. She looked lived on instead because she felt that God gave her a great gift, and that was this child.
Two weeks later, Vernon's mom was in labour, and Vernon was born. His mom thought that she was blessed for having such a beautiful child, and that all her problems were gone. However, Vernon was two weeks premature and had to stay in the ICU for a month. After being stabilized, he was discharged.
From then on, Vernon's mom looked forward to life even more, because she had her precious with her.
However, things changed for the worst. Vernon's mom got into more quarrels with dad, and his & her family. She didn't have money to feed the poor kid. But, somehow, they struggled and managed to live on.
At age 10, he was transferred from Monfort primary school to WDP, which seemed alien to him. There he started from scratch and developed a passion for badminton. He represented the school and won in so many competitions that secondary schools were already knocking on his door, wanting him to join them when he graduated. But he kindly declined, and instead went to a secondary school that was a half an hour ride from home. He chose the school because it did not offer Badminton. He wanted a break from it.
But, in AES, he found his true passion, which was track and field. He was so in love with it, that he trained day and night, just to improve on his timing. Everyday, he would carry his metal starting block to the stadium, training hard under the blistering hot sun. He wanted to be the best. At first his mom thought that he was crazy, because he even skipped exams to represent the school. Soon his mom realized her son's burning passion for it and though she had no money, she hunted high and low for appropriate running shoes for him, and that meant that she had to borrow $$ to pay for the costly shoes.
Vernon wanted to be the best. And he did. Vernon made his dreams come through and even appeared in the tabloids. He was not only recognized in his school zone, but he was recognized nationwide. He even represented Singapore to run in Australia.
However, working hard for his running meant that his studies were neglected. He failed in his finals. not giving, he repeated school but unfortunately, did not make it by a mere point. Vernon and his mom approached SCDF and the MP,looking for an opportunity/chance to get into Poly. But they were in vain.
Vernon was at a lost. He didn't know what to do. He had planned to go to Poly and continue running. He did not have plan B and was disappointed that he did not make it to Poly. To add to his misery, Vernon broke his shin from over training, and adding the fact that he was bold legged, Vernon could not run anymore. Devastation slowly seeped in as he realized that his career plans were gone, just like that.
Not giving up, Vernon went for his NS. There, he trained hard for his BMT and was supposed to be the best soldier. However, during one of the training, Vernon broke his wrist and because of that, he couldn't complete his chin-ups. Such a disappointment to him.
After he attended army, he decided to join Laselle, an art school. See, Vernon was not only good at running, he was fantastic at art as well. But nothing could replace his passion for running. He worked hard, burning the midnight oil, just to complete the demanding amount of work that completely drained him.
But his family still had financial difficulties, and after completing his Diploma (only), he quit school. His father could not support the family, and his mother wasn't paid well enough. And so, he decided to work, to help support the family which was now a family of 5, including him, his mom, dad, sister and brother.
Vernon started out as an apprentice at a tattoo shop. He worked hard to master the art of tattooing. And he was good at it.
I especially love his portraits which were really unique because they didn't require tonnes of shadings, but instead, it was just the black "shadows", making the portraits look as though they were stamped onto your skin.
But coming from the tattoo world is really tough. Because everyone is competing for the best tattoo designs. And joining the tattoo business for only a year, Vernon had no chance in rising to fame fast. So how was he going to help bring food home for the family?
The reason why I look up to him is because of his undying effort to not give up, and to find alternatives to make things better. Even though he didn't have a career, he actually took responsibility into helping his family.
