Financial barriers have been one of my enemies since childhood. I grew up in a family where my mom and dad had no well-paying jobs. Mom was a petty trader and Dad was a reserve guard. They were also peasant farmers. Since we had only a small farmland which would not be so large enough for us to cultivate crops enough to serve us from one harvesting season to another, we often do what we call "Oji Ani", this is leasehold, it's just a process of renting land for a period of planting to the harvesting season. If the owner still doesn't have an urgent need to use the land then the farmer still needs it, the renting can be renewed.
With the financial condition of my family then, I didn't start my educational journey at the right time because there was no money to register me and get all the necessary study materials I needed for learning. I was always in the house playing from morning till night. Since I am the last child, I have older siblings who have traveled to seek greener pastures in different cities. I was only living with my Dad and Mom. Despite the financial situation, my parents didn't want it to affect me, they always let me do whatever would make me happy except for overfeeding which I was very good at. The "slim foodie".
I remember how often I left to play with my friends at night. We often play hide-and-seek under the mango tree. Those who don't hide in dark places are often exposed to the light from the moon and stars, brightening the environment to some extent. Most times when there are fewer stars in the sky we often engage in plays like "counting the stars" in which everyone would honestly announce the number of stars they were able to count. My parents, despite the danger of snake bites or fear of kidnapping cases, often let me leave for the playgrounds at night for two reasons. The night with my friends I can never forget was the day while looking up to count the stars, we saw a bright object falling from the sky, we didn't know what it was and we got scared. That was the end of the play that night. When I got home, I inquired from my parents what that could ever be. My mother, the great myths teller, gave me a very horrible answer. She told me that if a famous man or woman dies her soul will fall from the sky like a shooting star. My Dad gave me a different answer, he told me from his little knowledge of Physics, that he believed that it was either a comet or asteroid, but he knew it was a shooting star from the sky. I immediately believed my Dad because I didn't want to add more fear to myself by believing my Mom.
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One of the reasons for the freedom was that it is never possible for me to stay in the house for at least four hours without developing the urge to grab something to eat, which we don't have most of the time. The second reason they often freed me to play to my satisfaction was to complement my lack of school engagement. When most of my friends leave for school, I often stay in the house sleeping or eating. So when they returned, my parents wouldn't hesitate to let me go to meet them to play and discuss what school was all about.
I wasn't enjoying staying at home at all. I often feel bad whenever my friends are narrating sweet activities that occurred in their schools such as sports activities, birthday celebrations and other varieties. Since I knew I would start school someday, I didn't wait till that day came. I was always eager to get notes from my friends and read. So by the time my friends wrote their exams and I got the question papers, I was always able to attempt if not answer all the questions. This attitude towards learning helped me in a very marvelous way.
God blessed my hard work and perseverance. One of the days I visited my friends, while I was trying to read their books in the sitting room, Joe's Dad walked up to me and said, "I love your kind boy, you are so focused and committed to learning". He then told me about a scholarship exam that came and advised me to tell my parents to register me for it. Joe has been my long-time friend and we share similarities of likes and dislikes. When I got home and told my parents about the scholarship exam, this is what my Dad said, " My son, don't border yourself, what do you know, you haven't entered the four walls of the classroom. What are you going to write? It's better to save more to register and fund your schooling than to waste the money on scholarship registration". I knew myself so I stood my ground, I challenged my parents to register me for the scholarship and if I failed, they should forget about me acquiring formal education.
They registered me for the scholarship exam and I wrote. I wasn't nervous before, during and after the exam. I remember seeing some people who vomited after the exam, some lost their appetite and some were crying. I believed in myself and I knew I would surely have a star performance. When the result came out, I didn't even know about it. My Dad often passes the school where I wrote this exam whenever he is going to work. So one day as he was returning from work, he saw how parents were thronging in and out of the school gate, some happy and some sad. My Dad met one of the happy ones and asked what was going on in the school environment. Instead of the lady answering my Dad she started by bragging that her son was the second best in the scholarship exam.
When my Dad heard this, he left his bicycle without setting the stand. He ran into the school and went straight to the notice board, squeezing through the crowd till he got to the front of the results list. He ran as if he had been chased or he had left his life somewhere. When he saw the list he started checking from the bottom to top. When he checked from number three hundred to number ten and didn't see my name he got scared. He thought I performed so badly that my result wasn't worth pasting on the notice board. He wanted to leave before something asked him to check those who performed excellently.
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He started his search for the number one student. With his sandy hands, he wiped his eyes to look again when he saw my name as the student with the star performance. He shouted and jumped. He left the place and almost forgot his bicycle at the school gate. While riding his bicycle back home, he was feeling as if he was on an elephant, the feeling of a father of a star student. When he returned he gave me a very tight hug. I was surprised, he didn't answer my greetings but just came and hugged me. My Dad dressed up and wanted to leave the house before my Mom asked him where he was going. He told my Mom that he wanted to go sell his bicycle to buy me clothes, gifts, school items and some items for preparation of a sumptuous meal to celebrate the star student in the house.
My mom and I didn't understand what he was saying until he finally announced that I was the best in the scholarship exam. My Mom ran to me, hugged me and lifted my feet from the ground. That was the day I knew my mom was the female version of John Cena, hehe. I had to beg my dad not to sell his bicycle, his only means of transportation. He later told me how happy he felt about my performance and how proud I had made him. The celebration started and seemed never to end.
This was the "slim foodie" who began schooling and has been a star student till today.
Thanks for reading my nonfiction story. I hope you have learned a lesson and you enjoy it. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.
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Wow! This is lovely!
Imagine the kind of proud feeling you gave your dad for topping the performance.
Nice one!
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@captainman! Your Content Is Awesome so I just sent 1 $BBH (Bitcoin Backed Hive) to your account on behalf of @kingsleyy. (8/20)
Yes
He was proud to an extent that his shoulders couldn't pass the door, hehe.
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What a great story, your dad must be proud of you.
Sure. He was very proud. He even announced my excellence to all his friends
Surviving such moments wasn't easy, it only takes determination and resilience to keep being that star from that early stage till now.
You are right dear.
It's never easy to always be at the top.
I know right... 🤭 I'm happy and I'm you.