I can never forget in a hurry, those days of thinking I could survive without education, but now that I remember those days of stack ignorance and mediocrity, I just thank God I eventually snapped out of my impossible dreams.
“School na scam abeg Jo, who school help in this 21st century “ that’s what I always mouthed aloud in public gatherings to my own shame, little did I know I was just deceiving myself, but of course it wasn’t too long till my truancy at school began to tell on me openly even at larger gatherings.
It was a cold freezy night when the worst night of my life happened, I don’t think all present that night can ever forget too, it was a big show of shame, I had just been asked a question by the cute-faced-to-die-for head boy of the school, that every girl including myself was dying to have to herself, well…. It’s no big surprise that I made a grammatical blunder, a really shameful one at that, that even a six-year-old should definitely be spanked for.
Well, you might be wondering that what was the question that called for my stupidity, he simply asked that “What do you think of the high rate of truancy in the school” well I was definitely a truant, that question didn’t go unnoticed to my emotions, in fact sometimes when I remember the whole scenario I still think it was a setup or a deliberate question or something of that nature to see my reaction because I was obviously the only truant present that night. It was in the presence of six other classmates of mine, that I gave this regrettable response.
“ Easy pizzy lemon squessy” I thought to my self, by now, I was already a blushing bundle of embarrassment.
I cleared my throat, pouted my lips, smiled at Dele, the handsome ever listening gentleman, who craved my indulgence, making me feel so important at that moment, I was so lost in his eyes, that is for a fact. Then the catastrophe happened
“ You know, the lackadaisical attitude of the students to their education, the half baked teachers………” I should have kept quiet there and then, but I rambled on and on over and over again. “If only the government would provide good infrastructures…”
Who does that?????
Who uses past tense in the present??, so much to show for my learnedness, a whole SSS 3 senior to be taking JAMB and WAEC that year, funny enough I taught I was right, what could possibly have been worse than that, I didn’t even know simple English Language.
Then I realized my folly in an instance, but it was too late, almost immediately six pairs of eyes stared back at me obviously filled with sarcasm and humour, it wasn’t the look that hurt my feelings and changed my life and it wasn’t the silence either
But it was the thunderous laughter that roared deep into the dark night, by all my so-called friends, even Bola and Dammy the so-called perfect seniors, and goody two shoes. But even if I lived up to a 100 years I can never forget the expression on Dele’s face, it pierced deep into my heart, and my heart shattered to pieces, dele of all people, after all, we had been through together in my imaginations.
It was the wrong time, but all the workshops and seminar of the importance of the girl child education that I have ever attended came flashing, through my mind, and how so much I regretted all my acts of truancy, at that moment I felt like the ground should open up and swallow me, I just wanted an escape, to be anywhere else but with their, probably a change of topic, but no one was nice enough to do so for me.
The inevitability of education was what I learnt that night,
But did that change my evasive attitude towards my education?
One should think I had learnt my lesson and the importance of education to every child, but even after that humiliating experience that I had, I didn’t learn, unfortunately, when I was the talk of the whole school and as I walked along the corridors of the school all eyes were on me, with both my juniors and classmates pointing at me and giggling obviously in relation to that experience.
Of course, I was summoned by the principal, and it was so unbelievable and childish to me, but he sat me down and gave me a talk, it was all about EDUCATION! EDUCATION!! EDUCATION!!!, and all the advantages of being educated, and how so much I needed it to stand out among my pairs and to excel, and all those boring stuff, it was all majorly a pep talk, and also some oversabi teachers had to add their bit to it too.
It was the worst times of my life, little did I know that the worst was yet to come, most especially for a disobedient child like me, danger was always lurking around
Time went so fast that I had already almost forgotten about my humiliation, soon we were in the examination week, and all students were in their best and most serious behaviours, every student you met in the hostels and in the classrooms and anywhere else had their heads buried in books, hardly would you come across any student along the corridors without a book, except of course an unserious student like me.
…
TO BE CONTINUED