I Blew It Out Of Nervousness
"Good afternoon Mom", I greeted with a gloomy face as made a move to go the room. "Not so fast, come here, what's that look on your face"? She asked. "Mom, I told you I needed to change school, today Central Primary School was on fire, it was just God that paved the way for me to escape, you needed to see how the school was in commotion", I replied. "My dear, you are speaking in parables, what is the matter"? My mother inquired.
"Mommy, three pupils alleged to be members of a secret society were caught in my school today. According to their confessions, their mission is to initiate as many pupils as they can in the school. Mom I don't like the school, please change school for me", I replied putting on a very serious face. "Come on my baby, is that why you are looking dull? Don't worry I will look into the matter, okay"? Mom responded.
"Okay Mom, thank you", i replied beaming. "Your food is in the kitchen, get yourself cleaned up then eat", she replied. That evening when my father came back home, my mother discussed the issue with him and he asked my sister to call me.
My Dad is someone I find very difficult to talk to, it is not as if he is strict but I am naturally scared of him. "Good evening sir", I greeted him." Evening how are you"? He asked. "I am fine sir", I replied, with my eyes fastened to the ground.
"I and your Mom discussed your school, I heard that you don't like Central Primary School anymore, what is the matter"? He inquired. Talking to Dad is not usually easy, but If I should keep quiet, he might think as if I just wanted to change school for no reason.
So, I gathered my nerves and said "Daddy, my school is full of secret societies. It was alleged that the majority of the pupils in the school are already initiated. I am so scared, I don't want to be a victim".
"I heard that news earlier today, if that is the case, you are no longer going back there", my Dad, replied. I never saw that coming, the joy I experienced that day was different. I have always wanted to change school, Central primary school was a government school, I was in basic two then but I couldn't read.
In fact, I remember a day, when I wrote an examination and I was called upon to write my name on the script, guess what I told the teacher? "Ma'am, I didn't bring the book that has my name written on it today", LoL.
That was how bad my case was. I had friends who were challenging me back then, and all of them were going to private schools. That was why I capitalized on the issue of a secret society in Central Primary School, so that I would be transferred to a private school, and lucky me, it worked.
My parents later got me enrolled in Reformed Nursery and Primary School, Akwanga. I was nervous on the first day at school. Unlike Central Primary School, there were fewer pupils in the classrooms. At some point I was wondering what kind of school is this, I could count the students.
Reformed Nursery and Primary School didn't beat my expectations, it was a missionary school, with a very big gate and few classrooms which were separated by ceilings in order to get enough classes. In terms of structure and population, Central Primary School was far ahead of it.
My first week was discouraging, coupled with the fact that pupils were not allowed to jump windows, run home during break time, or play all through because there was always a teacher in the class teaching and the annoying part was everyone was speaking good English. In central, we were allowed to speak Hausa ( one of the native languages down here) without being punished but here the reverse is the case.
"What a boring school, I should have just stayed in Central", I told myself. Miraculously, a teaching practice Student was brought to our school and she was assigned to take my class. There was something about her that I couldn't explain.
Subsequently, she changed the narrative for me. In one of her classes, she said, "Never believe that you are dull and you can't read, push yourself to the edge, every word you see, be it on a signboard or on a piece of paper, try to pronounce it. If you hear any word that you are not conversant with, look for it. Let others help you spell it then you practice".
I don't know what happened to me but I took her words seriously and began exploring, before that term elapsed, I was already reading very well, and everyone was amazed at the transformation. Unfortunately, six months were just like six days, Miss comfort completed her assignment and she left. I really missed that woman.
The dull boy who doesn't know how to speak good English and read suddenly became a celebrity in the school. When I got to basic Four, the school organized debate competitions between my class and our seniors.
It was the first time I was going to do something like that, we were given points to memorize, and I kept practicing until I could recite them offhand. After a period of intense practice, I was full of confidence that I was going to deliver well.
The day finally came and something unusual began to happen to me, I started feeling nervous, you know that feeling of the first time at a thing. Part of me wanted to witness how that activity is but another part was full of fear and doubt.
The topic we were given was farmers are better than teachers. I was on the proposing side. After the stage was arranged, we were all called out and given seats. As soon as I sat, my heart started pounding. I was the second speaker, and the opposing side was asked to start, when it got to our side, my legs started shaking.
In no time, I was called upon to present my points, I stood up and observed protocol perfectly well, after which I decided to lift my eyes to see the crowd and that was it, every single point I had in my head vanished into the thin air. I started stammering, and my teacher who was standing close by used gestures to tell me to ride on, out of shame I made a few off-key points and I sat down feeling embarrassed.
At the end of the day, we lost the debate to the opposing side and my group was angry with me.
But one thing I love so much was after the debate, my class teacher called me and said, "Emmanuel you did very well, I am proud of you. I understand that you were nervous. Learn how to calm yourself before you launch into action, okay"?
His words brought healing to my soul, even when others were laughing at me."Thank you sir", I replied with a faint smile and left feeling motivated.
After that debate, things changed, I did very well at the subsequent ones and my parents never regretted changing school for me.