Write a story that ends with the statement: Better late than never.

Answer Details

Tunde was, by common agreement, the most gifted pupil in our set, but he was also the laziest. Blessed with a sharp mind, he despised hard work and spent his days boasting that he could pass any examination without opening a book. While the rest of us burned the midnight oil, he lounged about, laughing at what he called our needless labour.

The day of reckoning came with our final examinations. For the first time, cleverness alone was not enough. The papers demanded thorough preparation, and Tunde, who had read nothing, sat staring at questions he could not answer. When the results were released, his name stood at the very bottom of the list, and he failed the subjects he needed most. The shock wiped the arrogant smile from his face.

For weeks he sank into gloom, and many wrote him off as a wasted talent. But Tunde was not finished. One quiet evening he came to my house, humbled and sober, and confessed that he had been a fool. He begged me to help him plan a fresh timetable, and from that day a new Tunde was born. He rose before dawn to study, joined our reading group, and asked questions he had once been too proud to ask.

The following year, he registered for the examination again. This time he prepared with a diligence that astonished us all. When the results came out, Tunde's name shone near the top, and he won admission into the university to study engineering, the very course he had almost thrown away.

Years later, now a respected engineer, he was invited to address our old school. He held up his degree before the young ones and told them his story without shame. "I nearly ruined my life through laziness and pride," he said, "but I picked myself up before it was too late. Learn from me, and remember always that it is better late than never."