The Morning the Sun Sang

John had always hated mornings. The blaring alarm, the crusty eyes, the heavy weight of another day in Lagos traffic,each sunrise felt like an insult. But that morning was different.

The first thing he noticed was the warmth of the sun streaming through the thin curtains, painting soft golden lines on his face. He stretched his arms, then rolled over to check his phone, as he always did. A hundred unread emails, two missed calls from his mother, and wait! one new email from the scholarship committee.

His heart stuttered, John had applied for the Global Future Leaders Scholarship three months ago, a long shot he had almost forgotten. He remembered the nights he stayed up in the university library, typing through power outages and battling mosquitoes. His friends had mocked him for dreaming too They'd say “A Nigerian boy from Otukpo? Harvard? Forget am, guy,” they had laughed. But he couldn’t,his faith kept him moving.

Hands trembling, he opened the email.
"Dear John Ameh," it began. His eyes raced through the words, skipping, stumbling, until they landed on the one sentence that set his soul on fire;

"We are delighted to inform you that you have been awarded the 2025 Global Future Leaders Scholarship to study at Harvard University."

He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until a wild laugh burst out of him, echoing around the small, stuffy room. He leapt off the bed, nearly tripping over his textbooks and scattered clothes. His mother, hearing the commotion, rushed in.

“What happened? Are you okay?” she shouted, her wrapper slipping off her waist.

John grabbed her hands, his voice breaking. “Mama… they chose me! I got it… I’m going to Harvard!”

For a moment, she simply stared at him, her eyes wide and unblinking. Then she let out a cry part joy, part relief and hugged him so tightly he could hardly breathe. He felt her tears soak into his T-shirt, and his own fell freely.

In that embrace, John felt the weight of every sacrifice melt away the mornings she rose at 4 a.m. to fry akara to pay for his school fees, the evenings she sold groundnuts at the bus stop. Her silent prayers, whispered into the night when she thought he was asleep.

He saw his future flash before him,the halls of Harvard, the chance to finally make an impact, to prove that a boy from Otukpo could stand on any world stage.

He would later call his friends, his lecturers, even his old neighbor who used to tease him. But for now, he stayed in his mother’s arms, listening to her heartbeat, grounding himself in the reality of this miracle.

That morning, the sun didn’t just rise. It sang. And for the first time, John didn’t dread the day,he welcomed it with open arms, ready to embrace the world that finally said yes to his dream.

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