It was the kind of incident that could have left a permanent scar on my self-esteem. Surprisingly, it didn’t. Instead, it made me more self-aware and in the long run, more confident. Till date, it remains the most embarrassing day of my life, and I’m yet to experience anything close to it.
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This happened in my first year of secondary school. I attended a boarding school, and we had several uniforms, about seven in total. Our main school uniform was worn from Monday to Wednesday, and we were allowed to have only two sets of it.
One Wednesday morning, my school sister and girl crush, let me call her Cynthia, who was in JS2, approached me and asked if I could lend her one of my shirts. This Cynthia was a senior colleague I admired so much. When she asked me to be her school sister a few days after resumption, I was over the moon. So when someone I admired that much asked for help, thinking twice wasn’t even an option. I handed over one of my shirts like a loyal soldier.
Fast forward to a few minutes before breakfast. That was when I realised that I had no clean shirt left.
The one remaining shirt, the same one I wore the previous day for compound work was still unwashed. The collar was visibly dirty, and the smell was already introducing itself. I ran to my cousin for help, but hers was dirty too. With no other option, I brushed the dirty shirt and wore it to school. I took my perfume along in case the one I had just sprayed wore off before school closed.
The shirt didn’t smell in the morning. But after recess, around 1 p.m, the devil remembered my address. I began to notice a strong odour. And I began to panick. I leaned towards my closest friend, Favour, and told her, “It has started smelling".
She sniffed lightly, confirmed the smell with a nod and gave me a look filled with pity.
I glanced at the boy sitting close to my right. One look at his face confirmed my fears. He's perceiving it. My heart sank.
“What do I do?” I asked Favour desperately.
“Spray the perfume,” Favour said.
Ah yes. Genius.
I looked around to make sure no one was watching, dipped my hand into my school bag, and sprayed the perfume directly under my armpits. Instantly, the boy beside me shouted, “oh my God!!!” and turned his face away dramatically. It was obvious that the mix of perfume and odour had made the air completely unbearable.
Favour and I were uncomfortable too. Instead of masking the smell the perfume made everything worse.
“What if he stands up and tells the whole class that my body odour is killing him?” I whispered to Favour. She tried to reassure me, but boys can be boys. I couldn’t take the risk.
I stood up, picked my school bag, and Favour followed me to the toilet, where I spent the rest of the school hours hiding.
I cried my eyes out that day. For dayss after, I made it a mission to sit very close to that same boy, just to prove to him that I don't have body odour.
From that day onward, I made it a habit to wash my shirts and socks the same day I wore them, just to ensure nothing like that ever happened again.
So yes, this was my most embarrassing moment in school. Still is. I doubt I’ll ever forget it. These days, I laugh loudly whenever I remember it.
This particular experience tops the list of my most horrible experiences.
Got an embarrassing school moment too?😆
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