Three months later…
The campus felt different.
Brighter. Lighter. As if a weight that had rested on everyone's shoulders for years had finally been lifted.
I crossed the quad with my books tucked against my chest, stopping every few steps to greet someone. A student from the scholarship program waved from the library steps. Two volunteers called out from the student centre. A girl I had met during one of our community visits hurried over to tell me she had passed her entrance exams.
People knew my name now, but that wasn't what mattered most.
I knew theirs.
I knew their stories, their struggles, and the dreams they had once been afraid to share. And for the first time, I understood that leadership wasn't about standing above people.
It was about standing beside them.
"You're smilin
