Inspired by the strides of the inventors in their science course, he had thought to excel and stand shoulder to shoulder, if not surpass the achievements of Newton, the Great Physicist and Mathematician.
But the impress of bloody coloured inking on his termly score card tries to weigh him to the base; cemented by the disgraceful remarks of his Dad. And what a guess! They were Integrated Science and Mathematics that scared the reality of his dream.
Was it strength of the mind; was it determination of the heart, one can’t say. But down the lane, there went the feet of the undeterred scientist. Not minding the horrors of a lonely bush tract, his eyes unwilling to see the reality of illusioned certainty of a poor performances in Science and Mathematics.
He traced the route to a distanced cousin who he supposed was vested in knowledge having had a few years in the Senior Science College. What a surprise! The supposed scholar was worse than the prospectus scientist. Additional Mathematics for West Africa brought a beam of light. The gifts that graded the way to the destination.
Day and night; morning and evening, a determined soul has found a companion. Is it true to conclude that every successful student had a teacher or are books themselves teachers too?
But his eyes aren’t deemed from reading with candle night neither are his feet swollen from soaking in cold water. The little book from Godman and colleagues had gradually erased the red ink from his report sheet which were caused by his failures in Mathematics and Integrated Science.
design@mfontom
The love for Further Mathematics zooms out and Sciences became interesting. Yet the rolls refused to be smooth. Physics surfaced as the monster when up to SS2, there was no teacher. He only enjoyed the luxury of Physics lesson for few weeks with only ‘Waves’, ‘Velocity’ and ‘Acceleration’ taught. F9 in Physics and Mathematics from WAEC SSCE made a better judgement of and unbaked scientist.
But life, they say is war. You must fight if you must reign. The race might be tedious but determination will win. Keeping persistently at it wearies the adversary. The highest peak can’t be reached without climbing the ladder. To be counted among excellence, you must keep awake while others sleep.
The unpleasant identities have been wiped off with a WAEC result carry A1 in Mathematics and B3 in Physics. Being one of the best teachers of Mathematics and Physics didn’t come without a price! Here comes the Isaac Newton of our generation!