Getting an accommodation in the school hostel wasn't as easy as I had envisioned, I was told that there was no more accommodation just because I paid my school fees late. I wasn't happy about it because I would have to be paying for transportation to school daily from Monday to Friday. Imagine the kind of stress I would go through after a tough day at school, looking for and bargaining with bike men to get home.
I stayed with a family friend and was going to school from there. Thankfully, the house is not so far away from school, sometimes I trek back when I'm low on cash and it's takes me about 30 to 40 minutes walk to get back.
Time came for our second semester exams and timetable was released and posted on notification board. All students in my department went to check and copy down the time table.
A friend of mine and a course mate said to me "come lets go together and copy out our timetable, we would also draft out our reading time table according to the one released for the exam"
"Woahhh that's a great idea, I really want to be among the top students this time" was my reply to my friend pascaline. We started preparing hard for the exam, we would wake up at midnight and go for group study.
We even got someone to help us with mathematics related subject, we were really prepared for the exams and would study twice a day, reading and solving each question according to the time table. Most times after reading, we would formulate questions and ask each other questions so as to know where our strength and weaknesses lies.
Other times, we would solve past exam questions and check which one was repeated and likely questions that would be repeated in the current exam.
Exams finally started and we were ready for the exam because we were well prepared. After writing most of our papers, we had about two exams left and because I had my exam time table, I wasn't bothered because I knew the exam was scheduled for the following week.
I went back off campus to the family I stay with and prepared extensively for the exam we would have the following week. It was time for the exam and when I got to school there was a bit of a commotion, I saw some of my course mates arguing.
One was saying "how is that even possible that they wrote the exam last week when the paper is supposed to be today?
My heart starting beating so fast, I hope it's not what I'm thinking I said to myself. Then Pascaline approached me and said "what happened to your phone, I tried to reach you several times but your line was switched off" that was when it hit me, I asked her what she meant and she said they already wrote the exam, that she was called by one of our classmate to quickly run down to school that there was a mix up with the time table and that she tried to reach me but couldn't.
I busted into tears, I couldn't control my emotions anymore, I blamed her for not trying harder, "you would have come to check on me where I stay, you are not a good friend " I took off immediately and went to my head of department along with others who also missed the exam for a solution.
Nothing could be done about it, we were told that it would be a carry over subject for those that missed the exam, on hearing that, my heart became really heavy, I sobbed and sobbed until I didn't have strength to cry anymore, I felt like I've lost everything, after all my efforts so this is what I gained.
I blamed myself for not staying in the hostel, everyone I knew that stays in the hostel wrote the paper because they get first hand information before it gets to those living off campus. I wept for days and wouldn't eat. I lost interest in school activities, I would go to school just to occupy the seat but won't contribute to anything. I felt invincible even to myself, all I had hoped to achieve in my grades went down the drain with just a single mistake that is not even my fault.
Some good friends along with Pascaline encouraged me and told me I can still achieve my goals, that I shouldn't be discouraged now, one of them accommodated me to share her bed space until the exams are over and I finally blew away the cobwebs surrounding me and resumed my active reading and preparation for the remaining exams.
Although I wrote the carryover, my grades still came out great, I vowed since then to always stay in the hostel to avoid future situations such as this and I finally got my own space in the hostel.