Your Attitude Determines Your Direction

By [Musa Al-Khwarizmi ]

They said she was a lost cause.

Teachers gave up, neighbors whispered, and even her own mother, though she meant well, often sighed, “Maybe she’s just not meant for much.”

At 17, Maya Rivera had already earned a reputation—not for excellence, but for skipping school, mouthing off at teachers, and hanging around with people who’d mastered the art of going nowhere fast. On paper, she was a statistic waiting to happen. But what no one saw, not even Maya herself, was that her life wasn’t off track. It was simply waiting for a new compass—an attitude shift that would redirect everything.

The Turning Point

It happened on an ordinary Wednesday. Rain pelted the windows of her high school’s detention room as Maya slouched in her chair, scribbling absentmindedly on her notebook. Mr. Brooks, the school janitor, had been asked to watch the students after the supervisor didn’t show up.

He wasn’t supposed to say anything, but when he passed Maya’s desk and saw what she’d drawn—half a cityscape with intricate rooftops and winding alleys—he paused.

“This yours?” he asked, lifting the paper carefully.

She shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

“You’ve got an eye for perspective. You ever think of architecture?”

Maya laughed. Hard. “Me? I can’t even pass geometry. Besides, people like me don’t become architects.”

Mr. Brooks didn’t flinch. He knelt to her eye level. “People like you? You mean people who are smart, creative, and just haven’t aimed high enough yet?”

She blinked.

He continued, “You’re not stuck, Maya. You’re just pointing the wrong way. Fix your attitude, and you’ll fix your direction.”

Those words shouldn’t have hit her as hard as they did. But they did.

The Shift

Maya didn’t become a model student overnight. But the next morning, she showed up to school on time. Not because she loved class—but because she was curious. If Mr. Brooks saw something in her, maybe there was something to see.

She started paying attention in geometry—not for the grade, but to understand the angles, the rules, the structure of things. She began sketching again, only this time, she researched blueprints, watched YouTube tutorials, and stayed up late studying famous architects.

And when her former crew laughed and said, “Who do you think you are now, Einstein?”—she just smiled and walked away.

The difference wasn’t her talent. She’d always had that.

The difference was her attitude.

She chose possibility over pity, growth over grudges, focus over fear.

The Climb

Within two years, Maya had turned her grades around enough to apply to a community college’s pre-architecture program. It wasn’t Ivy League, but it was hers—and that was enough. While other students groaned through assignments, Maya dove in, fueled by hunger and humility.

She took on part-time jobs to pay tuition, worked weekends, and even shadowed a local architect for free, just to learn the ropes. She wasn’t the smartest in the room, but she was often the most driven.

Whenever doubt crept in—and it did, often—she remembered Mr. Brooks’ words: “Fix your attitude, and you’ll fix your direction.”

The Breakthrough

Five years later, Maya stood on the 17th floor of a building she helped design—a youth shelter built in her old neighborhood. Her name wasn’t on the front, but she didn’t care. It was in the blueprints, in the walls, in the hope that pulsed through each hallway.

She requested Mr. Brooks be the guest of honor at the opening ceremony. When he arrived, older and slower, she handed him a framed print of her original sketch—the one he saw in detention that day.

“I changed my life,” she said, voice cracking, “because you saw something when I didn’t. And because I stopped thinking the world owed me something, and started thinking maybe I owed myself a shot.”

He chuckled, “You just turned your compass in the right direction.”

The Message

Maya’s story isn’t about talent. It's about choice.

Every person has an internal compass. But attitude—not ability—is what sets the course.

If you think you’re stuck, maybe you’re just facing the wrong way. Turn around. Reframe. Redirect.

Because your attitude, not your past, not your circumstances, and not other people’s opinions—determines your direction.

Author's Note for Vocal Readers:

We often think success is about skill, luck, or having the right connections. But the real game-changer is your mindset. You can’t always control what happens to you—but you can control how you respond.

So next time someone counts you out, smile quietly.

And keep walking—just make sure it’s in the direction of your dreams.