Greetings!
My mama warning to me before leaving home for school was,
“Remember the child of who you are and make sure you don't join a bad gang.”
So, on getting to the campus gate, this her warning echoed in my ear and I was so determined to follow her warnings and words of admonitions to the letter.
I love my mum very well and would always respect her and her stands on every issue of life, either in her presence or absence, you will never see me flaunting her rules or going against her wishes.
So, whenever I see people associating or embracing each other on campus, maybe in the hostel or in the lecture room, I used to feel strange and see these people as an unserious element.
Back then, all I knew how to do best was to go to class and from class to fellowship and from the fellowship down to my room, so, a triangle lifestyle was my way of life in my 100 level days.
However, there's this boy called Ayo in my class who would always walk up to me just to cheer me up, but because of what belief I have held on to which was what my mum had instilled in me about making friends, I didn't give this guy any chance of moving close to me, in fact, I have on many occasions shunned and embarrassed him in the public, but that wouldn't stop him from coming to me.
On a particular Tuesday, when we had left class for our different hostel room, a lecturer sent a message to our class WhatsApp platform that there would be an impromptu test the following morning and that the test would be a major decision to who passed his prerequisite course.
However, because of my stand on not associating with others, I didn't get the message as I have exited the class WhatsApp platform myself.
It's early on Wednesday morning that the test was fixed for and if not for Ayo who gave me a call when he didn't see me while others were filing out to the test hall, I wouldn't have made it to the test hall.
He was the one that called and when I first saw his call, I was like I would not answer the call, but later, I answer the call and his first question was like,
“Sam, where are you?”
But I responded to him in a rude way and asked him,
“Why do you want to know where I am?”
However, this guy would not even mind my manner, but instead continue to inform me about the test that was about to start.
When I heard him saying,
“Dr Fashakin had fixed his test for this morning, you better hurry up to come and write the test.”
I jumped up from my bed and quickly dressed. I didn't even remember to take my bath nor brush my teeth. I just dressed up and rushed to the venue and fortunately for me, I was able to meet up and write the exam.
So, immediately after the exam, I went on looking for Ayo and when I found him, I embraced him and kept on appreciating him to the astonishment of others who have not seen me in this kind of a mood before.
Immediately, I asked Ayo to take me to the class representative and when we got to him, I pleaded with him on my previous acts and deeds, most especially for exiting the class WhatsApp platform. At first, he didn't want to listen to me, but with the presence of Ayo, he accepted my apology and added me back to the WhatsApp platform.
So, ever since then, I never take the power of relationship for granted and since then I have been living a better and transformed life.
Although, it looks like I didn't take my mum's advice, it's not like I later realized that I was the one that misinterpreted her warnings to mean what I had imagined it to mean as she later told me when I told her about the scenario that led me to relating with others that what she meant then was that i should not keep bad company.
So, that's how I was able to live and relate with others and that has really helped me to build connections and build bridges.
Thanks for reading.
Picture is Ai generated.
