My parents always taught us the importance of being punctual to anywhere we are expected to be in: church, school, etc! Then, it used to feel like a punishment! And although we got commended a lot for it and even received awards at school, we grumbled and complain evrr so badly when they wake us up at 5:30am or thereabouts to start preparing for school or whatever event we had that required us to go early in the morning.
We never saw a need to rush up activities or have to sit and wait for others to come. But somehow, continuously doing that wired us to learn to be punctual and also respect people's time. This habit lasted with me for the longest time until I got into the university.
Truly, I managed fine with attending classes early and all. In my second year, I began to lag. I did not even realize that I was doing so. It went in a way such that today I'm in class a few minutes later, and even when the lecturer had already begun the lessons, it didn't seem like a big deal. After all, no one was complaining.
In my second semester for the second year, during the student week, we were to play a football match against another university, and I was in my school's team.
Prior, we trained so well. In the evenings, after classes for that day, we assembled at the field beside the hostel to train. It all went okay to me until the day of the game. My school was the host so we didn't have to bother about transporting to anywhere. All that we had to do was pick up our sports outfit and find our way there.
The game was to start by 3 pm that day. I got to the field, but the match was yet to start, although some guys were warming up. I joined them to do the pre-game exercises. When it was almost time for the game and we began formation, our coach, a new guy who had only begun with us just about a week earlier, called out myself and another player. Guess what? He benched us. He didn't let us play.
In replacement, the guy used some other of our teammates who should have been substitutes. He gave no explanations for his actions. He just did what he did. You can only imagine the hurt and anger that I, who had trained every single day in anticipation for that day, had felt. To think that some of my friends only came around just to watch me play and cheer me. But that day, my legs did not as much as kick the ball. I could neither complain nor question why.
After the game, which ended with a 2-1, with the home team winning, the new coach called us all together and after appreciating all out efforts, he went on to explain his earlier actions.
He complained about our lackadaisical attitudes, saying that although we had finesse in the game, we lacked some discipline. He looked right at me and said that when he first saw me, he thought of me as a groomed kid with all the nicest attributes. I shivered at that. It made me wonder if something visibly depleting was going on with me.
Coach said he put in the substitute guys cause they always showed up early to practice and helped with doing minor arrangements and running errands.
Coach said that the game did not end with playing the game. That there's more we needed to learn. We were the host team, and we needed to put in our best.
I deferred that I had assumed the game would not start at exact time, as, for most compryitions we had had, the African Time thing operated. That day, I learned that my new coach was a strict disciplinarian.
He had said, in addition, "This is a lesson and a wakeup call to all the rest of you.
Develop good habits. They transcend beyond the space you find yourself.
Apart from who's watching and what you might stand to gain, it's great for your personal development."
If I say that those words didn't hurt me as much as they spoke to me, then I would be lying. When I got back home, replaying the incident over in my mind and other similar derailing acts flooded my head, I was shocked how rapidly and badly I had been going. Good thing, though. That was the turning point for me. I buckled up.
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