There are many things that may have made me given up as a student, First was enrolling in a profession I wasn't passionate about, then the days when I slept hungry, days when I had no money and I wasn't expecting any from anyone, the stress from lecturers and the constant demand for money to pay for many things. All these combined made me rethink at one point, not because I felt education was not important, but the testimony of people who had gone through the same path and ended up surviving from entirely different means of earning wasn't very encouraging for students.
I wasn't born with a silver spoon and I knew how much my mum was struggling to see that she gave me a better education. My monthly allowance was five thousand naira (#5000), it wasn't enough to last me two days but I didn't want to bother her more. I was already earning online so I managed the money to pay for certain bills and for feeding. I had to do 0-0-1 or 1-0-½, zero meaning no food, 1 means a full meal, and ½ beg a little from someone and I kept surviving with it, except for days when students brought me food to teach them or an appreciation for teaching them. For garri, I had a Tiv student who rarely lacked garri and that was our saving meal.
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While I had so many reasons to give up, I also had thousands of reasons to keep pushing. Giving up at that point would mean giving up on not just my dream to be relevant in society but also my mother's dream of seeing her children pass through the walls of education. I had so many people whom if I look at, I'd know that they directly or indirectly depended on me as the elder son and the first to be in a higher institution. Also, I wasn't the only one going through tough moments, there were others too, with worse cases than mine. I saw how they picked themselves up in those challenges and smiled through- It was enough motivation for me.
I knew I may not practice the profession I studied, but also I imagined the smile that would be on my mother's face when she saw me wearing that graduation gown and an album of me serving as a graduate. I wasn't wrong. She spread the news abroad and the smile was worth the endurance and sacrifice. It's not always rosy, and no one told us it'll all be smooth, but then our motivation to keep pushing was greater than the urge to let go.
