Ravishing television personality Shirley Emma Tibilla, popularly known as Cookie Tee, has taken us back into a time when nobody knew her in the media.
Despite looking all glamorous on TV, the TV3 host has disclosed that she did not come from a wealthy background like many assume.
She recounted her long journey to success which was fraught with countless struggles and disappointments in an interview with Graphic Showbiz.
Cookie Tee said: “I remember when I came to Accra; when I moved from the Volta Region to Accra many years ago, my mother wanted to enroll me in the best of schools. She took me to Achimota School but it was full so we couldn’t get admission and she struggled to put us in one of the international schools in Abeka called Harrow.
“For my entry exam, I couldn’t even spell words like mango and friend and that was the turning point in my life. My mother was extremely disappointed so she got teachers for me at home.
“I would go to school in the morning, do afternoon classes after school and come home to do evening classes. When I started Harrow, I had to repeat Class Five. We were 79 in the class and I remember the first term I placed 16th, the second term I was 9th and the third term I placed 4th.
“I was 4th until I left the school because there were three strong boys I couldn’t beat. I just want to give hope to people like me from humble beginnings, people who feel that there is nothing left in this world for them to know that it is possible if you put your mind to it,” she said.
