In all my school stages, I only repeated a class once, and that was Primary 3 in primary school. I was a bit sensible then to remember how everything played out, and that was where I picked my turning point in academics. I always refer to that year as the year that decided my educational journey and the people I met through school. That’s when I began to believe, to some extent, in the saying “every disappointment is a blessing.”
I passed through the polytechnic phase of education in my country, and I must say, it was rough in almost all aspects. But when I look back and see how everything played out and the people I met there, smiles beam across my face.
I don’t know how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t found myself in the school and city I passed through. Maybe it would have been better than where I am now, or maybe it would have downgraded my life — I don’t know. But somehow, I feel I passed through that school, that city, and met those people because destiny said so.
When I gained admission, due to the not-so-long distance from home, I was made to retain my job where I had been working before I gained admission. My boss stood for me then, and I was only required to travel home once a month to attend to the work a little. If I had been admitted to a faraway place, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity, and those salaries helped me a lot in the early stage of my schooling.
I had a lot of friends during school, but the ones who helped me the most were the indigenous people of the city. It was as if the city I schooled in was ordained for me by God. I was liked by the people from the first day I stepped my foot on that land, and guess what, that’s the land where I’m currently establishing myself — or rather, where I have already established myself — even many years after school.
I met families here that I became a part of, like a kind of partial parenting situation, where my whereabouts were always known to them no matter how hard I tried to act stubborn. I remember a particular time I was to travel to Lagos for the first time for a job hunt; one of these families almost booked a flight for me or wanted to escort me to Lagos because they didn’t want me to get lost. To be truthful, I didn’t like how they handled it because they made me feel like a baby or a lady, but I understood why they did that.
The business I’m currently running stemmed from my relationship with the people I met in this land — the city where I schooled and where I’m currently residing.
But as it stands, I’m not yet where I want to be at the moment. I don’t have the amount of money I want to have, and I haven’t achieved all the goals I’m supposed to have achieved by now. Maybe if I had gone to another school, life would have been better; maybe bigger opportunities would have presented themselves. But all the same, I’m thankful I passed through the school I did and for the upliftment in life I’ve gained from there.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry to Week 186, Edition 03 of the Weekly Featured contest in Hive Learners Community
Image used is mine