Back in my secondary school days, my friends and I used to talk about how we didn't like the idea of becoming teachers. We preferred other professions instead. After finishing my secondary school education, I stayed at home preparing for my JAMB exams. It was during this time that I received some advice from my older brother. He said, and I quote, "Why not work as a teacher since you have plans to further your education? Teaching job is the best part-time job for any young person out there who has the ambition to continue their education. It keeps you in the education line, which will help keep your brain active for any exams." I thought about it and finally agreed with his suggestion of working as a teacher for a while until I gained admission into a higher institution. I then had to travel down to Lagos, where my grandma lives.
When I arrived at my grandma's place in Lagos, I discussed with her that I needed a teaching job to keep my brain active while I was still preparing for my JAMB exams. A few days later, I managed to get a teaching job. It wasn't a well-paying job, but that wasn't my main intention anyway.
After work, whenever I returned home, my grandma kept me busy with domestic chores and other tasks, without giving me much time to rest. As a football fan, I also found it hard to leave the house on weekends to go watch my favorite sport. My grandma's constant supervision and tasks were quite inconvenient for me.
During these challenging times of being watched and busy with chores, something came to mind.
I decided to start staying longer at school than usual.
I brought up the idea of holding extra lessons for my students to the school principal. This meant I would be working later than usual and returning home late, but it was to avoid the extra work I used to do at home for my grandma. This decision turned out to be beneficial for both my students and me. It was a win-win situation.
The students would benefit from the extra lessons, and I would benefit too. As time went on, I even included Saturdays for students to come to school for lessons. Although these extra lessons would earn me money, that wasn't my main intention at the beginning, honestly. But who doesn't like money? (lol)
Months passed by, and I began to really enjoy this teaching idea. It became a part of me. I didn't realize it at the time, but telling the students to attend my extra lessons after school hours and on Saturdays made me fall in love with the teaching job.
The JAMB exams came and went, and I was able to get admission into Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu to study Civil Engineering.
I had built a good relationship with my boss, the principal of the school where I worked. He suggested that I could come back to work at the school during holidays. I couldn't say no to the offer because the teaching job, which I never liked in my childhood, had now become a means of survival for me throughout my ND and HND programs.
Graduated and went for NYSC, was still posted to a school to teach, currently I'm a mathematics teacher in that school (smile).
Imagine teaching job I despise so much when I was younger.