I believe nothing is better than excelling highly in academics to a student who believes in excellence or success. I remember the good days at school are ever those when exam results come back and you find your paper has 80 per cent and above. And well, the reverse is true. We all set goals and take different decisions all the time having in mind that excellence is in our sight and that is the very reason we forego enjoyment and sleep to work hard. Basically we do all that mainly because we want to succeed and meet our desired academic goals.Though we all strive to excel and do whatever it takes to achieve that, the road to that success has never been straight and that’s why some students fail to cope when things get tough. We still shouldn’t give up easily but be willing to walk an extra mile ahead if we are to make it eventually. Recently, I realised a false attitude held by some students in my class when we received the results of our economics mock exam, where those who failed the exam came up with a theory that "in economics, survival is for the fittest” which meant that some subjects are not for them to excel in. I find this kind of attitude very defeating and not good for someone hoping to pass national exams. I believe as students, if we want to achieve our success and meet the academic excellence we all hope for, we must be sure about who or what we want to be in future. What is our dream career? What do we have to offer in order to get there? You need to look at the difficulties that stand in the way of your goals. What troubles do you expect to face on your way to success and how can you overcome them? You need hard work and persevere because without that, success won’t come easy.We have seen and heard of successful people and their success did not come easy. They dreamed big and above everything, positively believed in themselves. I challenge you to change any negative traits that you might have and work towards improving yourself.It all starts with you - your values, character and ability and above all, the faith to believe that you can do whatever you put your mind to.This is how I see it; I think this should be the time to have a total positive makeover. It doesn’t matter how many times you tried something but failed. Believe me, this is the time to forget all those failures, mistakes and weaknesses and look forward to something bigger and better. Although success does not come easy, with commitment, hard work and dedication, nothing is impossible.The writer is a student at Kagarama S.S in Form 6HEG