By Ong Ren Yi
I was the kid who never paid attention in class. The one who failed every exam since Primary 2. The one who gamed all night instead of reading textbooks.
My family was so concerned that they brought me for an IQ test. The results showed my IQ was below average. I was put in the lowest Academic Stream, Normal Technical.
Sometimes I wondered, “Why should I even try?”
The turning point
Even though I felt like a disappointment, my sister, Geraldine, cared for me!
She drew a times-table booklet filled with my favourite game characters to help me study 🥹
She also took me to watch movies, so when she invited me to come with her to church, I said yes!
During the service, I felt God’s love and peace. For the first time, I felt like someone cared for and believed in me, and that made me want to live for something bigger than myself. So I kept coming back!
Academic Excellence changed my mind
Deep down, I still couldn’t shake off the feeling that I was not good enough. But my first AE service, Pastor How said: “No one is born stupid. Every child is born with the potential to be intelligent.”
That rewired something in me. Despite my IQ score, I thought – maybe I’m not born stupid, and I can do well if I try.
I started to put in more effort to do my homework, and I cut down on gaming. During that season, I came across this verse:
If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
Matthew 17:20
you can move mountains, and
nothing will be impossible for you.
Those words gave me faith and strength to keep going. So I improved in my studies, and in Secondary 2, I topped my batch for Math!
My mum started to notice these changes in me. So, she came to church to check out the services for herself. In the end, both my mom and dad started to come to church with my sisters! Since then, we’ve also become closer as a family.
In church, I learnt to dream bigger
When I entered ITE, I thought, I’ll just pass and hopefully get into Polytechnic. Then I heard Joey’s story and how he went from Normal Technical to ITE to university!
For once, I dreamt of going to University and started pushing myself to be excellent.
At the start of each semester, I wrote down the grades I wanted to achieve. Before going to church on the weekends, I woke up at 8 am to study.
In church, I learnt that it’s more important to ask the right questions than to find the right answers. So instead of rushing off after class, I booked consultations with my teachers to learn more.
In the end, I scored a perfect GPA of 4. I even got a “gold course” medal for topping the cohort.
I also got accepted into my dream course, Aeronautical Engineering, at Singapore Polytechnic. I eventually graduated with a GPA of close to 3.9/4, which meant I could go to any university in Singapore!
I applied and got into NUS’s Mechanical Engineering programme, and have since graduated with Honours. God is faithful!
In church, I also discovered my passion for photography
At 14, I was trained to use professional cameras! At 16, I was empowered to lead a team. Even though I was nervous, my leaders met me for an hour to train me to speak boldly and clearly.
Over the years, I grew in my skills and learned to take shots like these for church:
Because the church first believed in and trained me in photography, I could also start my own photography business!
Who would have thought that a boy with below average IQ could be where he is today?
From Normal Technical Stream, to ITE, to Polytechnic, and now, I’ve graduated from university and have the option to pursue engineering or focus on my photography business full-time as an entrepreneur.
I used to not believe in myself, but God and church gave me faith to believe that I can do well if I try. Through my journey, I can truly say that with God, all things are possible!
