The Game of Life: A GEP 10 student gets an IELTS Score of 6.5

By Kimnguon Lim

My name is Kimnguon Lim and this year I’m 18 years old. I’d love to share with all of you a recent story of how I got an adequate band score of 6.5 in IELTS when I was just in GEP level 10 and then got accepted by a college in Canada.

I used to be a gamer; I would play any game I could find. My friends and I had video-game consoles and we would play together. When I was 15 years old, I realized that after all the victories and glories I’ve claimed in the games, I’m still am a loser because I had been ignoring one game and it was the game of life (my actual life). As soon as I knew I had life to beat, I went straight to reading. I didn't have any trouble giving up gaming at all, since I saw trying to beat life, just like playing video-game.

Kimnguon's gaming devices

I started reading books ranging from topics on business to philosophy and soon I found out that I’m passionate about being an entrepreneur, all through reading books. To help me chase my dream, my family planned to send me overseas for my university studies, but I first had to fulfil the English requirement. I would stay up late and read as much as I could. My English started to improve little by little. Sometimes you don’t only have to practice but you may also face defeats, non-supportive people, time management issue, things that try to make you give up, laziness, or pain... it is just like a test from the god to determine whether you shall be blessed with your prayer or not. Once I got to level 10, I was confident enough to try taking IELTS.

Kimnguon's book collection

Thanks to the tremendous support from my family, ACE teachers and friends, I successfully got a band score of 6.5 in only one attempt, subsequently; I could easily apply to study in the college I desired. After all, I do not regard any of these achievements as a victory; I still have a long way to go. Please remember that every prayer has its price, you’ve got to persuade god that you really need it. There is no other way around it!


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