An “amazing book”

Aminata Koné,—Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Aminata Koné was asked to leave school after junior high because her grades were so poor. Then, she found a book that enabled her to turn her academic life around.

During elementary and junior high school I didn't exactly shine in class. I had to repeat fifth, sixth, and ninth grades, and I failed my junior high-school final exams twice. Finally, after failing the exam a second time in June, I was asked to leave school. This happened during the 1999-2000 school year.

That's when I began to study Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, a book my father, who was Muslim, had been given a short time before by a friend. It profoundly changed his life.

As for me, studying Science and Health helped me understand clearly that I was created in the image and likeness of God, and this meant that I wasn't limited intellectually. So many places in the book emphasize that we reflect God's infinite potential, because God is Mind and each of us reflects this Mind. I realized I didn't need to be victimized anymore by the labels: “Limited intelligence. No affinity for school,” and “Will never succeed in her studies.” On the contrary.

The fact is, the more we understand and trust God, the better we can expect to do in school. “The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God,” says the book's author, Mary Baker Eddy (Science and Health, p. 258 ).

Jesus had already delivered this same message when he told his disciples, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5 ).

These ideas began to give me confidence, and during the summer holiday my dad enrolled me in a private, vocational high school. When classes started in September, I discovered I understood all my courses a lot better. What a surprise! I felt really alert and incredibly sharp. And at the end of the school year I was ranked 17th out of 74 students.

The most important thing, though, is that in 2001 I prepared for just one month in order to take my junior high final exams again, as an independent candidate. I passed the exam the first time around.

Today, I'm a senior in high school, and I continue to do very well academically.

As a result of this, I decided to become a Christian Scientist. And I am forever grateful to Mary Baker Eddy, the author of this amazing book.

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