For some reason, I was blessed with the Usain bolt spirit when I was younger . I could run fast and for an extended period too. I remember racing against my siblings and beating them to it. It was indeed a great feeling; running at your own pace with no pressure. I took this racing spirit to the boarding house, little did I know that I would encounter a person with a lot of ego.
Source||Edited with canva
My first year in secondary school was turbulent to say the least. As junior students, we were expected to always be three steps ahead of our seniors especially when it was related to punctuality. We had to do our morning duties with speed, have our bath with speed, eat with speed and even read with speed. I honestly don't remember if I did anything sluggishly in my first year.
Our daily routine commenced with morning prayers at the chapel by 4:30 am. The distance between the chapel and the girls hostel was like 10km and of course, we were supposed to walk hastily to the chapel auditorium every morning.
It was close to the time when the senior prefects were about to hand over their posts to the successors and things got even more turbulent. If we used to eat for 20 minutes before, the time was slashed by half. This period was the survival of the fittest.
On one of those days,the outgoing prefect wanted to have fun. They timed the chapel service and immediately the priest said "share the grace", the senior students started walking towards the door. By the sound of "amen", they already started sprinting towards the hostel. The gist was that " if the senior students reached the hostel before you, you would be severely punished". I didn't need a soothsayer to tell me that I had to run with all my might.
My tiny legs were moving swiftly and effortlessly. A mixture of Usain bolt with a touch of flash..uhlala😅 The race was going well and before I knew it, I was running side by side with one of the fastest senior prefects. As we were running, she gave me the look of "how dare you match my pace". My innocent self was still running for my life and I managed to escape the punishment that day.
The next day, the prefects repeated the same thing and it felt like the senior student I had an encounter with the previous day was on my trail. I think my audacity had pissed her off and so, she wanted to pass me by all means. We raced once again and I escaped. The drill was, as long as you pass the seniors, you won't be punished.
The next time we raced to the hostel, the senior student reached after me but she still punished me. It was really funny as I was the only one she told to kneel down. When her mates asked her why she was punishing me, she gave excuses like "she was being headstrong" or " she did something wrong". The senior student didn't want to tell her mates that she was punishing me because I passed her numerous times in a race. Well, I also kept it a secret to protect her ego😂 but this didn't change the fact that I broke her record. It felt good.
Thank you for your time
With love, wongi ✨