My Child, My Pride was the beginning of my novel reading career, I would say I have never been a lover of novels, I think the right word to use is that “I have never really enjoyed lengthy novels”, I have always been a fan of short interesting story books, it’s childish right?, the likes of The princess and the palace sorcerer of about 30 pages. Anything above 50 P’s is a “no” for me, but everything changed when I found this particular book I am about to talk about, MY CHILD MY PRIDE by TUNDE DAWOOD-AKERELE. My Child My Pride was never an option for me, it was a must read for me if I wanted to pass my examination, I couldn’t ditch it, so I decided make it a point of duty to give it a try, and most importantly the tile of the book has already said quite a lot about what the book is all about, this awoken my reading skills and curiousity, so I finally dived right into the book…
This was how I started my novel reading journey, it all started with My child my pride. My child my pride is not just an ordinary book, I won’t deny the fact that it is indeed a funny book, but the reality is that amidst this comedy filled book lies the path to become a successful being in life, which means there are some heavy truths in this book…
This book actually took me back to the past, it gave me an insight to what life at the village feels like, it showed me the great privilege and opportunity I have to be born and brought up in the city, I got to see how hard survival was in the ancient times, I never really valued the fact that I was brought up in the city because of some challenges I have faced in life, I had always wanted to try out living in the village, thinking everything about it is pretty simple, sweet and beautiful, but after reading this book, I came to realize how fortunate I am to be born and educated in one of the best schools in the city, because there is nothing like best cools in the village, I learnt this from the book and remained thankful for having this life, this was the moment I started cherishing my life as a city folk…
Ola has always been mischievous and wayward all his life, his childhood life was filled with so many moment of happiness, lessons and facts about life, he never knew what life was back then, but thanks to his parents and teacher, he became aware of the fact that life is not a bed full of roses, and that you have to fight for everything you want, which means what you want in life doesn’t always come to you, you’ve to go out of your comfort zone to get it sometimes, Ola turned out great thanks to guidance of his parents and teacher, being brilliant from childhood doesn’t guarantee a successful future, you have to work hard to be the best…
I read this book and replaced Ølã with myself, I have always thought I would be accepted by everyone and anyone if I was only brilliant, which means I will always have something to offer, but reading this book made me understand that life doesn’t recognize a brilliant man without any achievement…
Prior to reading this book, I was just an ordinary boy studying hard in school just to make my parents proud, I never really understood my purpose in life’s purpose then, but I thought i did, the only thing I wanted to do back then was to enjoy my teenage life, make my parents and siblings proud, but after reading this book I realize; I don’t just want to make my parents proud, I also want to be proud of myself, this was how I realized myself and my actual goals in life…
I thought the only way to please and make my parents happy after all the struggles and sacrifices they have made just to get me educated, the best I could do was to give them what they expect of me…
My mum always said she wanted one of her kids in the medical field, I thought of making her dreams come true by joining that field, but along the line, I realized a part of me wanted to help people, and finally I didn’t just give mum what she wants, I also got what I wanted deep down, and all this was after I read the book my child my pride…
In summary, Ola’s story made me realize how to go about my life, before the book, I was unsure of what I wanted to become in the future but after the book I got confirmation of who and what I truly want to be in the future, and right now I am about to further my education as someone in the medical field not just for my parents but also for myself…
A child educated only at school is an uneducated child; Ola my KID, you are my PRIDE…
In conclusion, this was a saying in the book that kept me hooked throughout the whole reading process, I made sure I totally understood the message it was trying to pass across, and at the end of the day, I learnt how to make good use of my life, I found out what I truly wanted from life and chased it. I will surely be the pride of my family when I finally bag my medical certificate, and until then I will keep working towards making my dream a reality, It’s time to take charge of my future, and I believe with the right people and step, I will be an overcomer…
NB: pictures were taken with my phone camera..
THANKS FOR READING…