Christina, at seven years old, had only known destitution and had never felt what it was like to have a roof to sleep under, nor a place to call home. She went to and fro with her parents, who were doing their best not to go too hungry and who had long since given up and were no more longer looking for something better. They, however, had come to know what it was like to live without necessities.
Their current situation was the product of many bad decisions, but it had been their belief that they could achieve everything with their very little effort that had left them at that point where they had resigned themselves to the situation in which they lived and had fully adapted to it. However, the problem was not with them, because, after all, they seemed to be at ease.
The problem was with Christina, who from a very young age had dreamed of something better, but who every day was limited by the attitude of her parents, who did nothing but repeat daily that for people like them, all doors were closed and that the best thing was to adapt to what fate had put in their way so as not to suffer too much.For that reason, they had not even made the effort for their daughter to learn to read and write, but she had to learn on her own with the help of books she found in the trash. Of course, it was not at all easy to deal with her family, who opposed progress and tried to quell her spirit, but Christina would not give up, so it was common to find her at traffic lights and on any platform, always reading.
And that scene was so striking to a few that they even began to leave her more books so that she could continue learning, something Christina was always grateful for with tears in her eyes, however, once she became seriously ill and had to be hospitalized for a few weeks, even though her parents could not afford to pay for her hospital stay. Luckily, one of the nurses paid for her while she recovered, but when she was discharged from the hospital, Christina not only had to thank him for his care, but above all, for the way he had spoken to her. Those days, despite her illness, were a gift for Christina because it was the first time that an adult spoke to her without taking her for a simple child who did not understand life and who was never given an answer to anything. That nurse, on the other hand, asked her about her dreams, asked her what she thought about life, and in turn encouraged her not to give up those dreams that she wanted so much. She told her to never resign herself to a situation, no matter how inevitable it seemed, and to always keep an open mind to change so that she could realize when opportunities came along, because many times it wasn’t the lack of options that killed dreams but closing herself off to them.
So after those days, Christina went out into the world with renewed strength and learned to ignore the derogatory comments of her parents for studying by her own means, and also the comments of so many other people who told her that they had to force her to work like them because she was already old enough to contribute to their survival. But every time her parents insinuated that she should start working to beg for arms and put her books aside, Christina received help as if it had fallen from the sky precisely because she was studying, many people who passed by her were moved to see her and would leave her even more money than her parents collected, shaking a car can and thus earning a couple of dollars to be left alone, although in reality she didn’t enjoy that money. That was supposed to be for Christina, but the girl didn’t mind as long as she could continue with her readings. So the time came when the girl had learned as much or more on her own than any other child her age and felt confident to take a test at school. Although she had no Guardians because her parents did not support her, Christina managed to enter a public school, and without realizing it, little by little, everything she needed was coming into her life because she always found someone willing to help her achieve her dreams.
Before she knew it, she had graduated. By then she hardly saw her parents anymore because they kept making fun of her aspirations, even after seeing all that she had achieved so far and that it had not been thanks to them. But in spite of them, Christina had applied to all the calls for applications she could find, and before she was 20 years old, she had already won a couple of honorable mentions for her knowledge in chemistry, which was what she was most passionate about. So it was not difficult for her to get a place in a University, and from then on there was no turning back in this new and successful destiny. As she studied, she worked as a tutor, and that was what she had always done and what had allowed her to have her own room.
And she was so judicious and always so responsible with everything she did that she got a scholarship to continue her studies abroad and went without hesitation. Once there, she continued to reap as many triumphs as possible. Since then, at the age of 32, Christina was no longer a student but a teacher at the same University. She had hundreds of students under her care, and there was no one who was not happy with her teacher because she knew how to motivate them at all times and made everything seem easier than it was. In addition, she was part of several investigations, and in everything she was always recognized, achieving a wide prestige in her work that accompanied her for the rest of her life, and that also allowed her to save her parents from the street, although she never returned to her country or saw them again.
If Christina had heeded all the comments she had received from her childhood, if she had limited herself to the lack of options that life had presented to her, or if she had not had the courage to face her own parents and go out on her own, her life would be very different. She would not be a valued and prestigious teacher at one of the best universities in a country that was not even her own, but would still be on the streets, probably begging or working hard for whatever money they wanted to give her. She would probably have been hungry and in need, possibly with children, or she could have fallen into addiction and died a long time ago. Undoubtedly, that nurse who told her she could do whatever she wanted if she put her heart and soul into it had a lot to do with the way she had faced her life. But the strength was already within her, an inexhaustible and invincible will that had taken her as far as she wanted to go, proving to all that she could.
So Christina did not limit herself to her own overcoming. But whenever she had the opportunity, she approached the street children and left them the same message as her nurse had done many years before. It was then that she thought that maybe that woman had gone through the same thing, and that was why she had tried to save her. And although she didn’t know if she was still alive or where she was, she realized that the best way to thank her was to continue her work, as had happened to her with that nurse. Christina never knew how many young people many years later still remembered her and thanked her mentally for all she had done for them.
But there were several who succeeded, for in childhood, the flame of willpower is stronger than ever and just needs a little help to get it back on track. Surely those people she had helped also decided to do the same in the future. This is how a small good deed can become a chain reaction that can make the world a better place. This is how a simple word of encouragement can change the course of history and little by little become something much bigger, a chain of favors that never ends and that allows hope to live on that. There are still reasons not to lose faith in humanity.
