Growing up, I only ever saw one future for myself.

Football.

From playing in 1^st Division and having a spell for Liberty Professionals in Ghanaian premiership, I dreamed of walking out in front of packed stadiums, wearing the shirt of a professional club, hearing the crowd sing my name and making my family proud. Every training session, every match, every sacrifice was made with one goal in mind—to become a professional footballer.

For years, football wasn't just a hobby. It was my identity. 

I believed that if I worked hard enough, success would eventually come. I spent countless hours training, learning, pushing my body beyond its limits and believing that every opportunity could be the one that changed my life. Eventually had the opportunity to travel to the UK and started my journey, playing for clubs like Roffey FC, AFC Croydon Athletic, Kingstonians FC, finally had a spell with Farnborough FC where I thought this was the beginning to a great football career. However, things did not go according to plan although may playing time at the club was remarkable. 

Eventually, I had to face the reality that the professional career I had dedicated so much of my life to was not going to happen.

That moment was one of the hardest periods of my life.

It felt like years of sacrifice had disappeared overnight. I questioned myself. I questioned my purpose. Most importantly, I questioned who I was without football.

For a while, I felt lost.

When you spend so much of your life chasing one dream, it is difficult to imagine yourself doing anything else.

Then something unexpected happened.

Education found me. I landed a English Teacher role.

At first, teaching wasn't part of the plan. It wasn't something I had imagined doing growing up. If someone had told the younger version of me that I would become an English and Music teacher, I probably wouldn't have believed them.

Yet walking into a classroom changed something inside me.

I realised that the same qualities football had taught me—discipline, resilience, communication, leadership and teamwork—were exactly the qualities I needed as a teacher.

Every lesson became another opportunity to make a difference.