Introduction
Warm greetings to the entire Hive Naija community. It's another week with an interesting prompt and it will be my pleasure to engage in one of the topics from this week's prompts;
📝 What kind of student are/were you in school?
A couple of years ago I graduated from secondary school,2021 precisely and it's such a fun game to think back to those years of seemingly endless learning, in-class drama and keeping up with grades.
I was a quiet observer in class during my school days. It was my best defining personality trait then. Once you hear the name ' Okeke Joy', of course, my surname always came first before my name. Anyways, once you hear my name, the reaction goes like "oh, she's such a quiet girl"
I loved my own space more than anything in the world. So to that effect, I was hardly ever missing from my desk except when nature calls and I had to excuse myself, or it concerned my grades that I had to see a teacher or when I had to go and buy my lunch at the school gate where few snacks were sold. Sticking to my own space gave me a lot of time to think. I'm always in my head. I like to observe everything going on in the classroom and draw reasonable conclusions in my mind.
Though I had a quiet personality, I gained my recognition through my grades. I was one of the brightest students in the school. Most people got to knew me through the few times I was called upon to receive an award because I was really anti-social so to say. I had a few friends who I related with but asides that, you would never see my name in any social group.
The funniest part of my secondary days was receiving multiple awards as the 'Well-behaved Student of the year 'because I was always minding my business.
Just kidding!
I am really well-behaved.
I loved reading a lot during my school days, not just academic books but tons and tons of novels. It was my way of escaping reality avoiding talking to people. I also started writing few creative stories of my own after getting so much inspiration from the ones I've read. So, each time a teacher walks by, I'm either reading or writing and presumably, I was a 'serious student'
I hated being on the spotlight but it was unavoidable because every teacher wanted all the bright kids in their group. During every school function, it was expected that every student belonged to at least one group. For my kind of person, it was really challenging. I was always hiding from my teachers so they won't add me to their. Sometimes I succeeded but other times I didn't.
The only time I engaged in school activities was during games and sports because I enjoy playing. Fridays in my school was a day for extra-curricular activities. Most fridays, we always had social gatherings which I never participated in unless it's a class debate presentation which counted as part of our grades. Any friday that is tagged a day for outdoor sports or indoor games, I de always happy like sey tomorrow no dey. You would never believe it if you're told I am a quiet person. See me shouting on top of my voice and having all the fun only to return to 'default settings' after the exercise.
One of the things that came with being a quiet student was getting random gists from random people. I heard almost every little gist about my classmates and even the teachers, because the people telling me automatically believe I don't spread whatever I'm told and also I'm a great listener. I also was able to pay more attention to my environment and to think critically over matters of serious concern.
Of course, sometimes I struggled with other louder personalities in classroom when I needed my voice to be heard. But over time, I learned that I could also be heard without needing a loud personality. While reminiscing those times, I know that there were moments I wish I didn't just 'sit and look' but most things works for the better. Now, I hold more meaningful interactions with people by listening more and expressing my ideas in the most effective way. I am able to pay attention to my environment and I notice subtle changes in my surrounding and act accordingly to them.
School life definitely shapes our various lives and in the end we are left with wonderful memories and experiences that make us a better version of ourselves. Moving forward, these experiences will always be a part of me that I would always hold dear.
Thanks for reading!