The precious gift my childhood gave me

Childhood is a stage in one's life where one has to learn lots of values that pave the way for adulthood. The things I learned during childhood are good pointers to life as an adult. The values learned at that fragile stage of one's life contribute greatly to what becomes of such an individual later in his or her life.

Good ethics, attitude, and behavior are recommended to be inculcated in a child from childhood to become part of such a child as he or she grows. This is the reason why you see a child who is stealing; this habit didn't just develop in a day; it has been with the child since childhood, which should have been curbed by the parents. But due to one reason or another, the parents were not bothered, and that becomes the identity of such children in adulthood.

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Apart from values, other things could be learned from childhood that can contribute greatly to one's adult life. Looking at my life and how easy it is for me to come up with writing daily, which is a tug of war for some, This can be attributed to what I have learned since childhood; someone might be wondering how.

I can say I learned to write from childhood; kudos to my teacher, who dedicated his time to making me a good writer. I can never forget my experience with him, although during those times, I tagged him as wicked, but today, it is of great value to me as it has helped me a lot on my journey as a writer.

In Nigerian schools, you begin to use a pen to write in primary three; I don't know what that is called in other countries, probably grade three or so. Then a young man was my teacher. As a primary-three pupil of about eight years old, my teacher would ask me to write out a note, myself being the class representative. At times, he would give me topics in different subjects to write on, and it's always difficult for me.

I did try some with the help of my mother, and that was how I continued till I left primary three to primary four. I was happy he wasn't my teacher at primary four; there, I became relaxed, though I'm used to writing for myself; it wasn't something I like.

Fortunately, I met him again in primary five, the last class until I proceeded to secondary school. He was my class teacher as he had been taken away from being a primary three teacher to primary five to teach the class because we were preparing for our common entrance examination to secondary school.

Meeting him again was something unexpected, but it happened anyway, and I had no choice but to adapt. Then this time, he believed I had come of age; most times, I drafted my class notes on some subjects myself. During that time, I hated it because it was like a punishment for me. He always told me to awaken my reasoning skills; I should learn to develop bodies for different topics, which he taught me well during one year of being in that class until I left the school to further my education.

When I got to secondary school, also known as high school, it helped me a lot because in secondary school, teachers don't dwell much on topics. Once students are given topics and a few points, they are expected to develop those points. This wasn't too difficult for me as I was being taught earlier.

What looked like a punishment to me then became a blessing in disguise. This has been helping me in my examinations, even now at higher institutions. It helped develop my reasoning skills and, likewise, my writing skills. Writing is something I have learned since childhood and that is of great use to me in adulthood.