Memories are like little movies in our minds. They're the special moments we carry with us. They remind us of happy times we shared with friends and family.
Hello friends, I am excited to share with you some memories from my high school days, and I hope you find them interesting.
I had my high school at Gilford Memorial College, a school not too far away from where I live, about a 10-minute walk, a distance that feels like an eternity for me, as I walk as slowly as a snail. I spent six years there, starting from my first year of junior school to the last year of senior high.
Those six years proved to be filled with challenges, fun, friendship, and experiences—moments of fighting, reporting students to teachers, and being reported. It was full of shenanigans.
First Year in High School
During the first year of high school, I wasn't much of a social bee. I had fewer friends and two close friends named Venus Samuel and Maduka Chidinma Margaret. Those were my two best friends then; we were always seen together, going home together, studying at school together, and sharing things.
Our first year of high school started just two months after the COVID-19 pandemic. I was excited to be back at school after spending almost two years at home attending online classes. I was also eager because the first year of high school was where we chose our career path, determining whether we would be in the science class or the arts class. As for me, I was in the science class, as were my close friends. Just great!
I faced some challenges during my first year of high school. For example, it was during this first year that we started learning science subjects such as biology, chemistry, and physic.
Keeping pace with the speed at which the teachers dictated proved challenging, as they no longer wrote on the board. Trying to follow up with the teachers as they dictated was sometimes a challenge; I missed a few lines of words, and some teachers were not patient enough to repeat. In such situations, all I did was leave some space, after the dictation; I would complete it from my classmates' notes.
Furthermore, we had increased responsibilities—ranging from increased assignments, attending extra classes after school, and participating in other extracurricular activities.
On the part of my classmates, somehow they began thinking they had arrived since they were now seniors. They thoughth they could dress, and behave as they liked. This thinking was backed by actions as some of my classmates started misbehaving, wearing tight uniforms, coming to school late, and all sorts of shenanigans.
Then there were various cliques; each group of friends was known for various things. Some were known for gossip, some for causing trouble, some for bullying, and of course, there were the intelligent ones.
On many occasions, the big boys of my class would get into fights with teachers, and this would result in general punishment for the whole class. Sometimes, we were asked to kneel in the sun for hours, forfeiting lectures. Other times, the fighters were expelled from the school. On two occasions, my classmates, including me, were driven out and locked outside the school gate for hours for an offense most of us knew nothing about.
I can say the first year of high school was very tough for us, but we survived.
Second Year in High School
The second year of high school was kind of fun and less dramatic, as we had fully learned some great lessons from our first year. The second year was a year when some students from my class were chosen as school functionaries. So, during the beginning of the year, everyone put on their best behavior, dressed well, behaved well, and tried to do everything right to be chosen as a school functionary. Nobody wanted to be left out. Even those known for causing trouble in the school tried to appear responsible enough to be chosen.
You know what they say about faking it till you make it; that was exactly the case. So, after a few months of our second year in high school, the school functionaries were chosen. I was chosen to be the Deputy Senior Prefect; Possible Uguru, a male classmate of mine, was chosen to be the Senior Prefect. In my school, we had an unwritten rule that the senior prefect would always be male and the deputy would always be female. Some of my other responsible classmates were chosen as well.
We had the senior prefect and the deputy senior prefect; the chapel prefect and the deputy chapel prefect; the sanitary prefect and the deputy sanitary prefect; the study prefect and the deputy study prefect; and the games prefect and the deputy games prefect. We also had the student welfare prefect and the deputy, making a total of 12 school functionaries.
After the selection of the school functionaries, a battle began between the functionaries and some non-functionaries in my school. The non-functionaries were always trying to oppress junior students, and when the school functionaries stepped in, the reaction was always, "It's because you are a school functionary." This went on for months until the school principal addressed the issue and it stopped.
Some of the school functionaries became power-drunk as well, maltreating junior students and behaving as they liked. Unfortunately, some were relieved of their positions and given to more responsible ones.
The main drama for that year was when one of the school functionaries fought our biology teacher. The teacher had the habit of treating students anyhow and talking to students anyhow. But that day, one of my classmates, who also happened to be a school functionary, stood up and told him his teaching period was over and he was encroaching on another teacher's time. In his usual manner, he started cursing the student, and my classmate wasn't having it. So, he cursed back, resulting in a very big fight that led to the student breaking the teacher's head.
The school owner had to come all the way from the second campus to our school to settle the issues, as the teachers were tired of separating them. In the end, the teacher was sacked, and the student was suspended for three weeks and relieved of his position.
That was the main drama of the year. After that, everywhere became settled, things went on smoothly, and it was at this second year that we began preparing for our final high school external exams, the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination, popularly known as WASSCE, which would be written in our third year and final year of high school. It was conducted by the West African Examinations Council, also known as WAEC.
It was a period of intense lessons, extra classes, practicals, and assignments given to us by the teachers in a bid to prepare us very well for the examination ahead. Everything went smoothly except for the little shenanigans and tricks played by classmates from time to time until the end of the second year.
Final Year
The third year, which is the last year of high school for us, began on a very good note, with some of my classmates leaving the school and others focusing on passing their exams. We had more freedom, fewer lessons, and more revisions and practicals. We made the best use of the year and got on good terms with our teachers as well. I myself became more open to my classmates, socialized, and made some good friends as well because that was our final year of being together. There were fewer dramas, and we became more responsible as well. Finally, the final exams of high school started and lasted for a month. We wrote to the best of our abilities and passed.
We graduated from high school on August 8th, 2022. It was a day of mixed emotions for my classmates and me, mixed because we were happy to be out of the four walls of the school and sad because we will miss each other so dearly.
As one of my classmates presented the farewell speech on behalf of my classmates, we couldn't help but shed tears.
I can say those six years were the best in my life. We learned, experienced, created memories that will never be forgotten, became better versions of ourselves, and passed through school, the school passed through us as well. I am grateful for all the experiences I had in high school.