What life has thrown at me

I finished my Senior Secondary School education in 2018. Meanwhile, in 2017, while in sss2, my dad registered WAEC GCE for me in July. It was to be written during the long vacation. I did the examination in the school I attended. Immediately I heard that the result was released, I quickly paid#30 on my phone to check my result. I got the message of my result the following morning while preparing for school. When I checked it, I had pure f9 in mathematics 😥. Waec didn't even have mercy on me with a pass. I cried bitterly😭 that day in school because my plan was to go for a direct entry programme and gain admission to 200level. I was very sad. My classmates wondered what was wrong with me. I couldn't explain myself. We had mathematics class that morning and my teacher asked me what the problem was. I couldn't answer. I was ashamed. I just shook my head that there was nothing. I kept mute in school that day. My dad just told me to make sure I prepared for my final exams well. My mathematics result for first term in sss3 was also written in red ink. I never knew the journey had just begun.

I registered for WASSCE and NECO together in 2018 with the hope that I was going to pass. The examinations went well except with some little disturbances from classmates and teachers. You need to see me on the day we did English Language. I didn't know what went wrong but I just couldn't understand the questions I was reading. I tried and tried still, there was no change. Everything went blank. I cried😰 in the examination hall although, no one noticed. When the examination finished, I didn't wait for any of my classmates to ask them how the examination went. I wanted to be home. When I got home, I was happy no one was around to ask me questions. I went straight to bed and prayed that the result would be good.

Waec eventually released the results but withheld ours☹️ and some other schools. Our principal tried all she could but all to no avail. We managed to do the graduation ceremony on a low key. Some did not even come for the graduation. Prizes were given to the best students in each subjects and to the prefects. The principal encouraged us that the results would be released. Few weeks later, NECO released the results. I made all subjects but with E8 in mathematics. I scored well in UTME so I thought I would be given admission. I went to the cafe to upload my o' level result. The man I met collected his fees and started the processing. When it was time to upload the result, he told me that the school I chose does not accept pass in mathematics after collecting the sum of three thousand two hundred naira. I was furious. Didn't he know what the school wanted before starting the processing? I left the place with tears. What was I going to do?

Eventually, WAEC released our result when it was almost late but the mathematics was the same as the other one. I did not bother to go to any cafe because I knew what the outcome would be. I gathered courage and went to meet one of my juniors in school to teach me mathematics. Then I registered for NECO GCE in another school with the support of my parent. All along I was praying and reading. The distance from our house to the examination venue was very far. Some of my mates were also there for the examination. We finished the examination and awaited the release of the results. The result was released a month later. Can you guess my result? I had E8 again in mathematics😒. My dad could not endure it any longer. At times I would sit alone and cry my eyes out. It wasn't easy at all.

I began to attend extra lessons with my juniors. At times when we were given classwork, I would do it and keep it. Then my lesson teacher called me asking if I was shy. Hmm... I had no choice since I wanted to further my education. The following year, 2019, I registered for NECO in another school again. The distance was also very far. I had to borrow uniform from one of the students who was my friend. She only wrote WASSCE so I was able to use her uniform. The examination was okay. Since I was a new student, they kept their distance. You need to see the way some of them were talking to me as if I was their mate just because I didn't engage in examination malpractice. It wasn't their fault. The result was released too and I had D7. This was the fifth one. This time I was already working in a private school.

In 2020, my dad told me with a tone of finality that that year would be the last time he was going to pay for my SSCE. I did UTME and my result was good. I registered for WASSCE alone. I planned to leave my teaching job in March to prepare adequately for my exams. But as God would have it, Covid-19 pandemic set in and...

to be continued

Boluwatife writes 🖌️