If I Had Then, What Would Now be (Part 1)

I want to take time to reflect on my life 8 years ago. I had just finished secondary school, and instead of seeking admission into the university like some of my secondary school classmates did back then, I had consciously decided not to, telling myself I am still too young, and not in a hurry, neither am I competing with anyone. I was happy to hear later that some of my friends had gained admission into the university at the same time, I wished I was them, that I was the one who was being admitted into the university. Because of my choice, I had to wait another year at home before I seek admission into the university.

In my country Nigeria, admission into the various tertiary institutions nationwide is done once a year, and to be eligible for admission in any of the tertiary institutions, you must apply through an examination board known as JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculation Board) that will conduct and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), and each tertiary institution has a particular UTME cut-off mark which interested applicants must pass in the exam before they can then apply directly with the school of their choice. The school I had in mind set their cut-off mark for 200 which is the basically the cut-off mark for most federal universities.

A year had passed after my graduation from secondary school, and I applied for the UTME through JAMB, then started preparing for the examination. I chose to study Medical Laboratory Science as a course, because I was always excited when it was time to do laboratory practicals back in my secondary school. The exam came and after writing it, I knew I'd be lucky if I had 200+ score. Results came and I had less than 180, which was the benchmark for most universities (state and federal) in the country, except for private universities which are too expensive for people in my social class. I was advised by people close to me to seek for admission in other tertiary institutions like the polytechnic and college of education whose cut-off marks tend to be lower than that of the universities. But I listened to non of them, because I only wanted a reputable federal university. So, that was another year of wait for me.

After another 1 year at home, shuffling between jobs and preparing for next year's UTME exam, the time came, and I applied for the exam and chose the same university I had chosen the last time, but had to change my course of study because at that time, Medical Laboratory Science as a course was removed from the JAMB database due to some issues that had to be resolved. So, I decided to choose Medicine and Surgery instead. After the exams, results came, and I had over 200 which was the cut-off mark for my university of choice. I was excited that I had made the cut-off, and also about the prospect of going to a university for the first time. Lest I forget, I was also working in a textile mill as at the time, and was earning about 40,000 naira monthly was fairly a lot in 2015 for a guy who is still under his parent’s roof.Time came for Post-UTME, which is the exam and or screening exercise conducted by the tertiary institution which you are applying for, and you qualify only when you have successfully meet the UTME cut-off mark set by the institution.

After a month or two of studying while working an average of 8hrs daily. Time came for Post-UTME and I had to travel by myself for the first time all the way from Lagos which is where my parents live to Benin City which is where my institution of choice was located. It was a 4-5 hours journey by road, and it was an exciting and scary journey, as it was the first time I was travelling such a long journey alone…

To Be Continued…