How a Solid F Student ended up top of the class! (Hint: It's Me!)

If you’ve ever felt like you’re trying your hardest but still failing, if you’ve ever been told you’re lazy, slow, or just not good enough, I need you to read this.

Because that was me.

I was the kid at the back of the class tuning out, pretending not to care because caring and failing felt worse than not trying at all. No matter how much I thought I knew, my test scores were horrendous. The teachers wrote me off. “She’s lazy.” “She’s just not academic.”

But I wasn’t lazy. I wasn’t dumb. I had undiagnosed dyslexia. And I had no idea that the way I was trying to learn wasn’t built for the way my brain actually worked.

Then, one teacher changed everything.

One day, an art teacher named Eddie Mara saw something in me that no other teacher had. He didn’t think I was stupid. Instead of pushing me aside, he introduced me to something called Mind Mapping.

I had never seen anything like it before. It wasn’t just words on a page. It was colours, images, branches, connections—it felt like the way my brain naturally wanted to think.

And the moment I started using Mind Maps? It was like taking the cork out of a bottle. Suddenly, information wasn’t slipping through my fingers anymore—I could grab it, shape it, and recall it exactly when I needed it.

In just six weeks of using Mind Maps, I went from struggling to stay afloat to scoring at the top of my class. Three months later, I was top of the entire year.

Teachers were stunned. Some thought I was cheating. They couldn’t believe that the same student they had ignored was suddenly outperforming everyone. They tested me, tried to trip me up, but my memory and recall were now unstoppable.

And let me tell you—I wasn’t exactly humble about it. I got cocky. After years of being overlooked, I finally had proof of what I had always felt inside: I was smart. My friends saw it too. They always knew I wasn’t stupid—I had just finally found a way to show it.

Here’s the thing—I went too far, too fast. I had something to prove. I wanted to show them all that they had been wrong about me. That drive pushed me forward, but looking back, I can see that I could have found a better balance.

If you’re just starting with Mind Mapping, be kind to yourself. Start small. Build a solid foundation before you try to take off. The skills will come, and when they do, they will take you further than you ever imagined.

Mind Mapping didn’t just change my grades. It changed my entire life.

I went from a kid with very few options to someone who has travelled the world at the highest level in my profession. I went on to work alongside Tony Buzan, the very creator of Mind Mapping, and became the Master Trainer for his method. I even helped establish and codify the official rules for Mind Mapping competitions worldwide.

And it all started with one teacher who saw beyond the grades and gave me a tool that unlocked my mind.

If you’ve been struggling—whether it’s in school, in work, or just in life—know this:

You are not the problem.

Sometimes, all it takes is finding the right tool. For me, that was Mind Mapping.

If you’re ready to try it for yourself, start small. Build your first Mind Map today. And if you want to go deeper, I’ve put together a FREE Mind Mapping Starter Guide to help you take your first steps. Grab it here: [Download Your Free Mind Mapping Starter Guide]

Let’s unlock your potential. You are capable of more than you’ve been led to believe.