Since Carlos graduated from college as the valedictorian, a lot has been going on in his mind. He reminisced that moment when the announcement by Mc Alex, the compére for the event. "I have the singular honor to invite to the podium, the valedictorian of the year." was the statement he made that made everyone turn their faces to the stage, expecting the name to be called.
Throughout the event, Bella, the assumed most brilliant girl at Green Springs College, had bolted her scarf to be firm around her neck. She had a sleepless night the day before. Daydreaming about the speech that would be made as she would be called upstage.
In their first year at Green Springs, Carlos was a lone ranger. He always kept to himself. This was because he was embarrassed in the first mathematics class he had in their first class at Springs.
That day, Mr. Jeff (Redneck, as he was fondly called) entered their class. The learners, twenty-five of them, stood to greet him, "Good morning, sir!" After he had asked the learners to sit, he went straight to the former lesson they had, Pythagoras Theory.
"Young man in glasses, tell us what you understand by SOH CAH TOA". Carlos looked up, in an attempt to tell Mr. Jeff that he only just resumed in this class a few hours ago but he was not ready to listen to his gibberish.
"Don't keep the class waiting, lad." Mr. Jeff pushed again. In retrospect, Carlos' head was as dry as a desert. He didn't have an idea of what Mr. Jeff was asking him.
That day, some of the learners booed Carlos. Their reaction was so unfriendly. He started to feel unloved. For the whole of the year, he could not settle scores with any member of his class and himself. That made him fall out with mathematics. Certainly, his first year at Green Springs was hell.
Surprisingly, Carlos had one of the most beautiful results at the end of the first year. He was a proud student having achieved that feat. He wished that the first-day experience at Green Springs never occurred.
On the day he left school to return to his parents at Lagoon state, he felt like been released from a prison cell. He flew out of Green Springs like a bird that escaped from a snare. His joy poured like the waterfall of Lake Victoria. His journey home in a Kélu-Kélu luxurious bus was with a rest of mind.
When school reopens, Carlos became a favorite student of both teachers and senior students. Though he remained calm and collected. This continued until Carlos reached his final class at Springs. His only contemporary had been Bella who resumed at Springs during their final year. She is in a class on her own.
She got noticed during class sessions. She was one step ahead of every other person in class in attempting questions. But Carlos kept his pace and worked harder in preparation for the board exams.
On the day of the ceremony to mark their graduation, the silence became as quiet as a graveyard.
Mc Alex held the mic to his mouth but refused to mention whom it was that would be crowned the valedictorian of the year for a moment as the silence held sway across the hall. He only broke the silence at that point when Bella was already standing up, about to move away from her sitting position towards the podium when the compére called Carlos Olumide.
The whole hall went agog as they had expected that he qualified in all ramifications to be crowned as the valedictorian of the year.