Whenever I look back at things I have been through, the fact that I'm still here and in one piece surprises me sometimes. Every human has a past, painful or not it made us who we are, as descante once quoted, the future is a myth and unrealistic combination of uncertain event but the past has been seen, has been lived, has been witnessed, who are we without it? like every other child born on earth filled with imperfections and as a result of that, got humiliated a lot for being different.
It all started during my secondary school days, though the condition I gained admission with was not a regular one. before being admitted to JSS1, I and my parents lived at ariyo/orioke a city situated around ketu Lagos state. While we were living there my dad purchased a portion of land at ikorodu, which he was already developing. I and my brother attended a primary school few miles from our home, the name of the school was promise international school. it was a private school that was very popular in our neighbourhood.
When I was in primary 3, my brother graduated and was admitted to a secondary school in sagamu, Ogun State. A boarding school called Remo Divisional High school, he only comes home once in awhile during holiday period. it was only I and my siblings that was left in the house.
By the time I got to primary 5, my dad had already finished developing his new site, preparing a date we will move finally. As if the lord knew of the coming riot, during that time a riot broke loose around owode spreading to our neighbourhood making life and property unsafe. so my dad was not happy about this, so fast forwarded our relocation. for that reason I had to sit for my common entrance exam while I was still in primary 5, instead of waiting till primary 6.
I wrote the exam, which I chose the boarding school my brother was, it was not a pleasant experience because I had very little time to prepare for the common entrance. I sat for the exam and I passed, immediately that happened we relocated to ikorodu. A boarding school is never a regular Type of school because it requires you staying at the school without leaving the school premises until holidays.
My luggage was packed and I was admitted into the school, the funny thing about boarding school is that we all wear the same colour of cloth with our numbers on our chest pocket like prison cell mates. No designer cloths were allowed into the school premises, though some students do find ways to smuggle it in.
In RDHS, we have the hostel which is divided in to bays(rooms) with walls, a total number of 8 bays, it is like a regular "face me I face you" apartment the only difference is that it doesn't have doors. the rooms are filled with one double bed bunk and two wardrobes, 2 per student. two student occupy each bay in the hostel. the hostel is a story building, which means 8 bays upstairs and 8 bays downstairs, a total number of 16 bays and a total number of 32 students in each hostel, my hostel was numbered Block 1.
The seniors are the once that occupies upstairs, from SS2 to SS3 and some few SS1 students, it was not a law in the school but a form of hierarchy created by the senior students.
My first day at the hostel I was stationed in bay 1 downstairs with my brother, he was in ss1 then. the funny thing about boarding school is the laws we create to exercise control over each other and it is always survival of the fittest in most cases.
We have hotel warden but he is not really functional, the highest authority is the hostel master, while the one that overseas the activities in the hostel is the hostel captain, a selected representative of the student, they are always selected from either SS3 or SS2 depending on how responsible they are.
We have some regular rules, by 6am in the morning, you must be awake for morning devotion, by 6:30 everyone must attend to their portions, by 7:30 you must be out of the hostel and go to the dining hall for breakfast, while by 8:30 you must be at the school assembly. as long as you keep to this routine, you will be fine.
But there is more to hostel life than the routine, especially when it comes to bullies from senior student or colleagues, like I said it is survival of the fittest, showing any sign of weakness will only make others prey on you. I was subjected to a lot of cruelty at first because I was slim, short and naive, so people took advantage of that. I was extremely fragile and l get easily terrified.
There was a time in the hostel, there was a black out. it is something that happens regularly, being the kind of person that is scared of darkness, I try as much as possible not to move around when it is dark but on this particular day I was thirsty I just had to summon the courage and tip toe to the tap. the moment I was done Taking the water I needed, I looked back and saw this huge figure standing behind me, I didn't bother taking a second look I just ran. unluckily I miscalculated the entrance to my bay and I ran into a wall. I passed out immediately, it was when I woke up that I realised it was my shadow.
A lot of my provisions were stolen which is literally a normal thing in boarding school. my brother assisted in ways he could and I also had a school father then. By the time I was in ss1, my brother had graduated, so I was all alone. but I have adapted to the hostel life and culture and I knew precisely how to deal with bullies, especially the likes of a guy called "Ismail", he made my junior year unbearable, he looks like a giant, we were in the same class Jss1D. eventually I stood up to him and retaliated in many ways till eventually he let me be.
In the hostel, you don't report people to the hostel master, if you do, the rest of the student will label you a snitch, I learnt this the hard way.
LESSONS ACQUIRED FROM THE EXPERIENCE
- I learnt to survive on my own: all I had was myself, so I had to make things work because I realise if I don't no one else will and this as stucked with my personality up to this moment
- I learnt how to take responsibility for my actions: In boarding school, actions can't be taken for granted, careless actions begets consequences which involves punishment. in so doing, it made me sensitive to the choices and decisions I make on a daily basis.
- I learnt how to manage and relate with people: in boarding school you can't survive without relating with people, this factor made me outspoken,I developed the ability to to speak up for my self with good interpersonal communication skills.
- I learnt to make use of situations and opportunities to my advantage: in boarding school you do not have the luxury of time when opportunity arises, you have to be able to make decisions in sec and make the best out of it.
- Lastly, it made me hardworking: in boarding school, we all have our individual portion of activities we do on a daily basis which includes cleaning and sweeping of the environment, farming and hunting. I guess along the line, I developed a hard-working attitude.
This phase of my life formulated my attitude,behaviour and personality which made it a very significant aspect of my life.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "One tough time" in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
Image 1 - Source
Image 2 - Source
Image 3 - Source
