Unlike other schools in the country, Jim's school had a ritual of celebrating the excellence of their school every year in which parents of all the school students used to be invited. The celebration also involved rewarding the top three students who had secured the most marks in their annual examinations from each and every class. These students used to wear school uniform on the celebration day so, they could differ from the rest. It was seldom to see a student who had never been able to accomplish anything impressive replace somebody who had been always considered exceptional since they arrived on this planet.Seeing same people again and again on the stage motivated Jim to end his career as a spectator and play up front. But this meant replacing one of the three most fortunate representatives of his class and burning the candle at both ends.With the intention of acing his exams, he planned to rub shoulders with the amazing trio so that their presence could enlighten him. But the trio was reluctant to get off their high horses. This insinuated that Jim would have to act as a lone wolf in order to conquer the stage.Since the idea of mingling with the highest achievers of his class had been subtracted from the equation, Jim buried the grudges with his teachers and began pestering them to mark his extra work that he started doing after school every day.The preparation was in full swing and the exams were just around the corner.Nevertheless, one day he came back home from his school extremely tired and refused to eat the lunch that his mum cooked at his request. The exhaustion also caused him to desert his new study routine. With nothing productive to do, Jim found refuge in his bed.Next morning, Jim woke up after 14 hours of sleep and was drenched in his own sweat. He grew anxious.To escape the prison of anxiety, he rushed to the toilet to find out what had brought misery upon him. For 10 minutes straight, he gawked at his reflection in the mirror. What he discovered inside that tiny room made him shout at the top of his lungs: 'mum!'Jim's mum trotted in and found that Jim's face was swamped with tiny blisters.She conclusively said: 'I'm afraid to say you've caught chicken pox but hon, it'll be over in two days.'Jim replied: 'are you sure? because I got exams in few days and I can't afford to take days off from school and you know I want to be on that stage.''you know mister I would never think any less of you if you don't make it there and don't let this pull you away from your goal,' she said cheerfully.Three days passed.Jim's condition was becoming worse rather than better which led him to believe that his goal was far-fetched as It had become difficult for him to keep up with his competitors. To mount a last-ditch effort, Jim approached his mum for help and his mum proposed a plan.The plan needed Jim to stay at home until he was freed from the chicken pox. Also, the plan stated that if Jim is not physically able to revise due to his condition he would need to watch videos related to his subjects. Moreover, he was assured that his mum would always be around to motivate him to get going.A day before his first exam, he unshackled himself from the chicken pox.Finally, exams were over and Jim had to wait for the celebration day to find out whether or not he'd be representing his class but he wasn't really satisfied with his effort.A day before the celebration day, Jim's mum received a call from his school to remind her that the celebration ceremony would be taking place tomorrow so, don't forget to attend it but the school administration mentioned nothing about Jim.In order to make sure if Jim had succeeded, Jim's mum asked the lady on the phone: 'does Jim have to wear the school uniform tomorrow?' the lady replied: 'sorry ma'am, Jim is not in the list of people who will be attending the show in their school uniforms.'Next day, Jim was dismayed by the hands of his defeat and didn't want to step out of the house but his mum convinced him.As soon as Jim and his mum entered the school's premises, a man with a walkie-talkie escorted them to the backstage of the school's auditorium and told them: 'sorry, we should have let you know guys but we got mixed up with the results.'Jim's mum confusedly replied: 'what you on about?'The man with the walkie-talkie said: 'Jim has scored third highest marks in his class and therefore, he 's gonna have to wear the school's uniform. I know you have not brought the uniform so, we'll be providing it...enjoy.'A broad smile spread across Jim's face.