MY IDENTITY (1)
Who am I? This is one question that has been on my mind for a long time now-for a hundred and one reasons. Putting a hundred of them aside,let's talk about the one reason for my question today. I'd love to illustrate this by sharing a story with you-:
"Born less than three decades ago into a struggling family of five-parents inclusive-in a small and not-so-nice neighbourhood in Okegbe, a small village in Delta State of Nigeria. My father was a low-income tailor and my mother was a petty trader but no matter how bad a week had been as regards income and needs,we never missed going to church every Sunday to appreciate God-not even when my father did not get any 'contract' for an entire week. For my parents,faith in God meant more especially in time of lack. We were neither rich nor in the middle class-which was a nice way of saying we couldn't get offended if you called us ‘poor’,because that was in fact what we were. But in all these,my parents remained honest people who would rather die than take what belonged to another and they were known for it. I was named 'Kaodichimma'(meaning 'As it pleases God') which went on to buttress the strength of my parents' faith in God.My younger brother and sister who were twins were Chinekwu(God Speaks) and Chinweokwu (God has the say) respectively. Growing up,we didn't have a lot or enough,but we managed just fine-our parents made sure to provide as much basic needs as they could to prevent us from taking that of another. We kept managing until there came a slight breakthrough for us.
When I was in Jss2,my school (Community Girls' Secondary School,Okegbe) selected me and two other Jss3 students to participate in a Mathematics Competition generally meant for Jss3 students for all interested schools within the region which included about five states. The star prize for the top three winners was to be scholarship into Splendid High School,Okpota-one of tbe best as well as one of the most expensive schools in the region for their senior secondary education,amongst other prizes. Although one of the best Maths student from the Junior section of my secondary school,I was still in Jss2 and thus,backward in the curriculum of Jss3 class. With permission duly gotten from my parents,I had to stay behind in school for extra lessons from my Mathematics teacher to help me cover up as much as I could before the competition which was coming up in less than two months.You can imagine our profound happiness when I came second in the competition with over 40 schools in attendance,each having at least three representatives. The chief sponsor of the competition,who was also the owner of the prize school,was so impressed with me(being the youngest both in age and class) that he promised to pay for my Junior Secondary Certificate Examination(JSCE)in my present school,in addition to my already stated prize as the second-best.
After Jss3,I was transferred to Splendid High School to finish my secondary education.It was a boarding school and on entry,I was met with two major challenges;How to cope with living outside
my parents' protective shield and watchful eyes,and how to associate with the children of the high snd mighty-who were way out of my league and constituted over sixty percent of the school population. However,the latter found a quick solution when after several teachers’ commendation of my active participation in their class,I began to have lots of them who started hanging around me for me to help them academic-wise,in exchange for some 'hostel needs' as my parents could provide little or nothing compared to what other students had. Because I had earlier been warned by my parents against the dangers of associating too closely with people who kept lifestyles we could't afford at home,I tried to make sure I wasn't too friendly with them.Asides taking over the first position in class and maintaining it for the next two years,those years were almost uneventful.
One day,Tania Bassey,one of the girls I was friendly with and the only daughter of the then Minister for Education,was gisting us about her activities during the long vacation. We had just resumed from the holiday in preparation for our final year in high school and she was recounting how finally she met the guy she had been dating on Facebook for about a year. The story was captivating but there was only one problem-I didn't know what Facebook was or how it worked. So when others were contributing to the story,I did nothing but laugh and clap. You wouldn't blame me;the only phones in my house were for my parents and were only for sending/receiving calls and text messages-they weren't even internet-enabled.I inquired about Facebook and with genuine shock plastered on my friends' faces,I was told that it was a social media platform where people meet others from all over the world and share ideas,pictures et al. Their exciting stories about guys,pictures,videos etc. got me so enchanted that Tania promised to help create a facebook profile for me. She was one of the very many who smuggled their mobile phones into school,so by that weekend,she fulfilled her promise and I was elated to be introduced to such a different but interesting world that I hadn't known existed. During the weekends,she would let me use her phone to log into my account,provided I helped her with any assignment given at that time.At that time,all I was interested in doing was adding up new friends from all over the world and 'sharing ideas' as I was told. When SSCE was almost at hand,I unwillingly let go of Facebook to concentrate on my books. When the result came out,I passed with flying colours and in addition to my success in the Joint Admission Matriculation Board(JAMB) Examination,all I could do was to pray that my dream of becoming a lawyer was on its way to actualization.
As a reward for my good grades,my parents got me a mobile phone. I admit;it was neither a new nor a trendy one,but I was so happy to realize that it had a Facebook application on it.It was very slow in processing,but at least I had something with which to 'kill boredom' when I wasn't manning my mother's petty shop. Finally,after a long and dreadful wait,Mother Luck smiled on me and I was admitted to study Law in Nnamdi Azikiwe University,Awka. Returning from the cyber cafe where I had gone to check my admission staus,the wide smile on my face told my parents all that they needed to know. With part of the money my parents had saved up while I was on scholarship,I was able to begin registration and other activities required of newly-admitted students. When school resumed fully,I traveled to Awka with my father after a truck-load of advice from my parents.Prior to that time,I had secured accomodation in the school's female hostel so we went straight there.I took my things to my room as I prepared myself for the task ahead.Even as I waved my father goodbye that day,I had only one thing in mind-I was there to help build myself into something meaningful and there was no going back.
Aside the stress and numerous activities and 'strangeness' that came with being a fresh student,my first year ended on a good note with beautiful results I was proud of.However by year two,the wind of change blew to my side.As was the custom of the school hostel management, students who retained their hostel space,were reshuffled from all four blocks in the school hostel,such that students got new roommates every academic year. My new roommates were Nonchalant Uche(a 200level Economics student),Bookwarmish Clare(a 100 level Medical student) and Tracy Ekanem(a 200level Philosophy student). Tracy's lifestyle was a complete contrast of mine and maybe that was just what we needed to open up our 'strange friendship'. She was what students regarded as a 'slaymama'-a girl/lady whose only interest was to dress well at all times,have trendy phones,weaves and outfits. She was from an average family in Awka-Ibom State,yet somehow,she was one of the 'biggest' girls on campus. She had an accomodation outside the school campus but kept one in the hostel for 'safety' reasons-in case her overtly strict parents ever came to see her in school.Becoming friends with her re-ignited my 'love' for Facebook-she even introduced me to other social media platforms. Because she did,I also changed my Facebook username from my real name to Kiara Davies(KD),coined from my real name KAODICHIMMA. She began to take me out to parties on weekends to meet her numerous male 'cousins' who stayed all across the country. She showed me how to 'furnish' my social media profiles to attract 'reasonable' guys;she even let me stay in her off-camp accomodation sometimes when she was out of town,which was almost always. Before the end of my second year,through ways I'm not proud of,I was able to get my own accomodation outside the school premises.It wasn't as furnished as Tracy's,but I knew it was only a matter of time. I met men from various parts of the country who arranged to meet me at various popular spots in Awka.All this time,academics had began to suffer,but there was no going back for me.I was having the time of my life!...
•What do you think happened next? What are your anticipations for Kaodi’s new lifestyle? What will happen to her Law dreams?
I’d love to hear from you in the comment section. Thanks guys.
Who am I? This is one question that has been on my mind for a long time now-for a hundred and one reasons. Putting a hundred of them aside,let's talk about the one reason for my question today. I'd love to illustrate this by sharing a story with you-:
"Born less than three decades ago into a struggling family of five-parents inclusive-in a small and not-so-nice neighbourhood in Okegbe, a small village in Delta State of Nigeria. My father was a low-income tailor and my mother was a petty trader but no matter how bad a week had been as regards income and needs,we never missed going to church every Sunday to appreciate God-not even when my father did not get any 'contract' for an entire week. For my parents,faith in God meant more especially in time of lack. We were neither rich nor in the middle class-which was a nice way of saying we couldn't get offended if you called us ‘poor’,because that was in fact what we were. But in all these,my parents remained honest people who would rather die than take what belonged to another and they were known for it. I was named 'Kaodichimma'(meaning 'As it pleases God') which went on to buttress the strength of my parents' faith in God.My younger brother and sister who were twins were Chinekwu(God Speaks) and Chinweokwu (God has the say) respectively. Growing up,we didn't have a lot or enough,but we managed just fine-our parents made sure to provide as much basic needs as they could to prevent us from taking that of another. We kept managing until there came a slight breakthrough for us.
When I was in Jss2,my school (Community Girls' Secondary School,Okegbe) selected me and two other Jss3 students to participate in a Mathematics Competition generally meant for Jss3 students for all interested schools within the region which included about five states. The star prize for the top three winners was to be scholarship into Splendid High School,Okpota-one of tbe best as well as one of the most expensive schools in the region for their senior secondary education,amongst other prizes. Although one of the best Maths student from the Junior section of my secondary school,I was still in Jss2 and thus,backward in the curriculum of Jss3 class. With permission duly gotten from my parents,I had to stay behind in school for extra lessons from my Mathematics teacher to help me cover up as much as I could before the competition which was coming up in less than two months.You can imagine our profound happiness when I came second in the competition with over 40 schools in attendance,each having at least three representatives. The chief sponsor of the competition,who was also the owner of the prize school,was so impressed with me(being the youngest both in age and class) that he promised to pay for my Junior Secondary Certificate Examination(JSCE)in my present school,in addition to my already stated prize as the second-best.
After Jss3,I was transferred to Splendid High School to finish my secondary education.It was a boarding school and on entry,I was met with two major challenges;How to cope with living outside
my parents' protective shield and watchful eyes,and how to associate with the children of the high snd mighty-who were way out of my league and constituted over sixty percent of the school population. However,the latter found a quick solution when after several teachers’ commendation of my active participation in their class,I began to have lots of them who started hanging around me for me to help them academic-wise,in exchange for some 'hostel needs' as my parents could provide little or nothing compared to what other students had. Because I had earlier been warned by my parents against the dangers of associating too closely with people who kept lifestyles we could't afford at home,I tried to make sure I wasn't too friendly with them.Asides taking over the first position in class and maintaining it for the next two years,those years were almost uneventful.As a reward for my good grades,my parents got me a mobile phone. I admit;it was neither a new nor a trendy one,but I was so happy to realize that it had a Facebook application on it.It was very slow in processing,but at least I had something with which to 'kill boredom' when I wasn't manning my mother's petty shop. Finally,after a long and dreadful wait,Mother Luck smiled on me and I was admitted to study Law in Nnamdi Azikiwe University,Awka. Returning from the cyber cafe where I had gone to check my admission staus,the wide smile on my face told my parents all that they needed to know. With part of the money my parents had saved up while I was on scholarship,I was able to begin registration and other activities required of newly-admitted students. When school resumed fully,I traveled to Awka with my father after a truck-load of advice from my parents.Prior to that time,I had secured accomodation in the school's female hostel so we went straight there.I took my things to my room as I prepared myself for the task ahead.Even as I waved my father goodbye that day,I had only one thing in mind-I was there to help build myself into something meaningful and there was no going back.
Aside the stress and numerous activities and 'strangeness' that came with being a fresh student,my first year ended on a good note with beautiful results I was proud of.However by year two,the wind of change blew to my side.As was the custom of the school hostel management, students who retained their hostel space,were reshuffled from all four blocks in the school hostel,such that students got new roommates every academic year. My new roommates were Nonchalant Uche(a 200level Economics student),Bookwarmish Clare(a 100 level Medical student) and Tracy Ekanem(a 200level Philosophy student). Tracy's lifestyle was a complete contrast of mine and maybe that was just what we needed to open up our 'strange friendship'. She was what students regarded as a 'slaymama'-a girl/lady whose only interest was to dress well at all times,have trendy phones,weaves and outfits. She was from an average family in Awka-Ibom State,yet somehow,she was one of the 'biggest' girls on campus. She had an accomodation outside the school campus but kept one in the hostel for 'safety' reasons-in case her overtly strict parents ever came to see her in school.Becoming friends with her re-ignited my 'love' for Facebook-she even introduced me to other social media platforms. Because she did,I also changed my Facebook username from my real name to Kiara Davies(KD),coined from my real name KAODICHIMMA. She began to take me out to parties on weekends to meet her numerous male 'cousins' who stayed all across the country. She showed me how to 'furnish' my social media profiles to attract 'reasonable' guys;she even let me stay in her off-camp accomodation sometimes when she was out of town,which was almost always. Before the end of my second year,through ways I'm not proud of,I was able to get my own accomodation outside the school premises.It wasn't as furnished as Tracy's,but I knew it was only a matter of time. I met men from various parts of the country who arranged to meet me at various popular spots in Awka.All this time,academics had began to suffer,but there was no going back for me.I was having the time of my life!...
•What do you think happened next? What are your anticipations for Kaodi’s new lifestyle? What will happen to her Law dreams?
I’d love to hear from you in the comment section. Thanks guys.
Comments
I must say, this is really nice👍