Hello Comedy open mic people. This is my first post here and I hope I am welcomed.
Fiwasaye (Fi iwa se aye) is a Yoruba compound word which means (to employ good attitude in the way of life). Yoruba is one of the ethnic groups in Nigeria.
Fiwasaye Girls’ Grammar School is my alma mater and a girls only secondary school. This was where I spent six years before I went to college. The school is divided into two which consist of the junior school and the senior secondary school.
Every secondary school has their signature uniform alongside the cardigan, badge, socks, shoes and cap. These are the wearables that distinguish them from other Schools.
While the uniform of junior school is short white shirtsleeves and long green pinafore with plain stripes, the senior school wear short white shirtsleeves tucked in a pleated green skirt with plain stripes with exception of the final year students who wear white long sleeves shirts tucked in their skirts.
When I got to senior secondary school class two(2), a new principal was brought in to lead the school and on her arrival in office, she laid down new rules. The new principal announced on the assembly ground that final year students shouldn’t wear long shirtsleeves anymore starting from the following week. Meanwhile, I had gotten a pair of my final year school uniform ready and it included the long white shirtsleeves.
I was sad when I heard the announcement because there is a prestige that comes with putting on that long sleeve shirt and it distinguishes the final year students from other students in the senior school and as such creates a boundary and respect from junior students. Even in other schools, there’s a particular respect associated with seeing a Fiwasaye Girls’ student on the long shirtsleeves.
When I got home that day, I informed my parents of the news about the new rule concerning the final year school uniform.
They clearly advised me to take my long shirtsleeves to the fashion designer to revamp it into short shirtsleeves, but I didn't listen.. I thought I was wiser.
Vividly, I could remember my reply to them in a snap that It wasn’t that deep and that
“some rules can still be broken”.
I then decided within myself that I would wear the long shirtsleeves no matter what.
I had always looked forward to my final year when I will get the chance to be the most senior student in school and wear my long shirtsleeves but unknowing to me that new rules would be set.
I had witnessed five sets wear their long shirtsleeves every year so, why would mine be different. I have always been enthusiastic about it and that was why I had sewn my final year uniform even before I got to that class. I was full of euphoria and daydreaming about how I would walk around in my final year uniform, how I would command authority in the school while in the uniform but all of my hope to demonstrate my power went down the drain after hearing the announcement.
However, the seniority and power remain even without long shirtsleeves but there has been a sense of prestige from previous sets who graduated wearing the uniform.
I decided to sew another pair of short shirtsleeves and kept the long sleeves in my wardrobe.
Few weeks after the announcements on the assembly ground, I was actually supposed to wash my school uniform over the weekend but I was too occupied to do it. Perhaps I was very lazy to do the laundry so I soaked my pair of uniforms in soapy water with the hope to wash them before I slept the previous night. Among things that I couldn’t control that night, sleep was part.
The next morning was Monday and that was a week after my swearing in as one of the school’s prefects. I sat on my bed , stared straight into space and thought about what I would wear that morning but quickly, I snapped back and recalled that I had a pair of long shirtsleeves uniform in my wardrobe.
Well, weeks have passed and some students still sometimes break the school rules and wear long shirts. Although I knew that they were against the school’s new regulations, in all honesty, some rules have been broken in the past without proper punishment so I thought this would be another one.
So that morning I wore my long shirtsleeves to school and fortunately for me I didn’t meet any of the teachers at the gate then I proceeded to my duty post where I was assigned to supervise some juniors while they carry out their early morning duties. These duties were always done very early, every morning before the assembly.
I was on my way back from my assigned post when I met the school’s Counselor and she asked me to come over to see her in her office. She was so disappointed in me when I got there because I was supposed to be one of the students that would serve as a model that other students would imitate or look up to but there I was, breaking the rules. She said she was going to step me down from my position. I begged her seriously but to no avail. She then asked me to follow her to the principal’s office and from there I would be led to the assembly ground.
On our way to the assembly ground, we met my English language teacher who begged the counselor on my behalf and she listened. He( the English teacher) gave her instances of a few students who wore long shirtsleeves as well in the previous week and got away with it. With that point, she decided that she would give reminder announcements about wearing only the short shirtsleeves henceforth so she gave me a last chance with the hope that I would not repeat the same mistake again.
Furthermore, I left them and headed back to the junior school to usher them to the assembly ground. While I was returning to the assembly, I met the vice principal administrative. Immediately I sighted her, I thought within myself that the gods had decided to deal with me that morning. The vice principal admin was one of the terror in the school back then and every student feared her. She was a disciplinarian and so difficult to work with.
Everyone who attended a public secondary school in Ondo state would understand that there is always one or two or three teachers or administrative officers who you dare not offend or cross paths with. According to other students who had had previous encounters with her, she was very strict and very difficult to please.
I felt so unlucky and immediately she sighted me, she called me over to her office. Oh my God! I thought within myself that I was done for. I knew at that instance that I was going to serve punishments if not for the whole month then it would be a week straight because several people had gotten punishments from her in the past and they went through “hell” and back so at that point in time I gave up and I just decided that I would go there with no intentions to plead and to humbly take my punishments and serve them right.
When I stepped into her office, with anger written boldly on her face, she talked to me so harshly on top of her voice. I couldn’t speak for a second all through the period she scolded me. I was so scared that I almost entered the wall behind me. It got to a point that I started praying for the cup to pass over me. I thought that I was already in big trouble but fortunately, she paused and asked me to explain the reason behind it since it was my first time breaking the rule. I haven’t said much when cut my sentence short and said;
“…as a prefect, you may want to exercise your power and want to feel like you are one of the authorities in this school but you should please learn to conform to the rules and regulations of this school”
It felt like I heard a lion telling its prey to leave while it watched over it. I couldn’t believe my ears for that second.
She continued to advise me for some minutes more and she later reached for her drawer and brought out a new razor blade, cut the pack open and walked towards me with the blade.
“Do not worry, you should know I wouldn’t hurt you. I just want to make sure that you wouldn’t wear this shirt again even if it were your last hope.”
She shredded off the sleeves of my shirt with the blade and said I could go. I was so surprised, I was expecting her to bring out her wooden cane and give me several strokes at least but she just said that was all and that I could go to my class. I left there wailing as though I was flogged.
However on my way back I met the counselor again. With a sorry look on her face, she said
“you eventually got into the den that I kept you from”
She took me into her office and gave me a cardigan to wear on the deformed shirt. She asked how many strokes of cane I was given and I told her none. She was surprised and eventually opened her arms wide. I ran into them and sobbed.
I stayed in her arms for a few seconds before I wore the cardigan and left for my class.
I could not forget that day. At the same time, I felt fear and anxiety rushing through my mind and shock because I wouldn’t believe it if anyone shared such an encounter with the vice principal with me.
Since then, I didn’t dare wear the long shirtsleeves to school again till I graduated.
All of the pictures in this post were taken by me using the Infinix S5 lite phone.
PS: The pictures are totally unrelated to the story🤗.