About 2 years before the final days of my high school, I had to move to a public school because my family couldn’t afford to continue my private schooling. During the final days of my high school, it was concluded that I would have to wait for a year at home.

This is my story

Phase 1 (How I got in)

After this conclusion about me staying a year at home, hiding under the facade of me being too young for higher institutions, the public school I was attending got a message from the government that they should provide students who the government would sponsor for a particular examination The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) which is a major criteria in to get admission into the university.

This was around election time, so different local government would be doing good things to win the favour of the citizen.
To God be the glory, I was among the students that was chosen to be a beneficiary of the local government benevolence.

So I went together with other chosen student and I got the scratch card containing the JAMB registration pin. I registered for the examination even before I finished my high

(oh I thought I was too young? Well, the story changed when someone took the expenses of the registration.)

I did the examination and I did well that’s even before my West African Examination Council Examination (WAEC), I did the university qualifying examinations and I had a did well too. So I gained admission into the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta to study Mechatronics Engineering.

Phase 2 (The university life)

I traveled to the university around January 2016, with no accommodation hoping to acquire the school hostel when the registration portal would open. I stayed with a friend of a friend which is a know member of our church.

The number of hostel available in the school is not enough for the amount of people that want to get the hostel so I wasn’t able to secure an accommodation when the hostel portal was open.

This friend of a friend got so uncomfortable with my presence so I had to leave his room.
I squatted with a colleague in my department but life wasn’t easy living there for two reasons.

1. The hostel of my colleague didn’t support squatting
2. I feel my colleague didn’t want me to stay because I’m actually inconveniencing him. (A room meant for 1 shared by 2)

I had to pack my things after living for few weeks with my colleague, to squat in another hostel. This one is the school hostel that I wasn’t able to get. To God be the glory, I found favour with the people living in the block of the hostel and even the portal of the hostel thought I was an hostelite. Funny right?

A room meant for 6 occupied by 8. You should expect some people to have difficulty in sleeping. As a squatter, I spent a lot of my night sleeping on the floor, it wasn’t easy. It was never for one day comfortable to sleep on the floor but I didn’t complain for once, I saw what I had as a privilege. It’s better for me to sleep on the floor than having no place to sleep.

I became so popular in the hostel and it started when I and someone in another room cooked a meal that my immediate roommate and the other room occupant enjoyed. so I got a nickname because of the type of meal I made. I made Eba (cassava morsel) with Egusi Elefo (melon soup with vegetable).
Because if this, I was called Eleba (someone that deals with cassava morsels)

All these happed in my first year as an undergraduate but to the glory of God I made a good grade in my first year despite all the hurdles.

I’m going to continue my story in the next article.
Watch out for part 2

Cover photo is the image of my thesis I submitted yesterday.

I published this article first on read.cash https://read.cash/@baned/the-journey-wasnt-smooth-ad974602