Mindviewers Stories

I needed to talk to Arinze, our course representative. He often carried himself around like the king of the classroom, with a touch of arrogance.Time and again, I watched him turn down people's suggestions and advice, always behaving like he has all the answers. The truth was, he wasn’t living up to the trust we had placed in him as a leader.

As I made my way across the lecture room, I noticed Arinze leaning against the wall, arms crossed, surrounded by a small group of other classmates that was making enquiries about one thing or the other.

Approaching him, I asked if we could talk to him aside. He raised an eyebrow, surprised, but nodded in agreement, i thought he was going to embarass me, but he was just humble.
We found a quieter corner of the classroom, and I sat down. I immediately started to talk about how things had been going this semester and how it felt like he often dismissed the suggestions we tried to make.

At first, he was defensive. He claimed that He he was merely trying to lead the class arguing that if he took things too lightly, in his view, would result in people not taking him seriously.

But after much deliberations, I let him know that true leadership comes not just from commanding respect but from earning it. I emphasized that he could be strong without being dismissive. People wanted to feel valued, not whisked away.

I was sure my sermon had gotten to him, he agreed with me and promised to change. It was not just hid promise, his eyes assured me.

Some months ago I wrote JAMB and luckily I passed. Then I ran all the procedures before admission and was now waiting for admission.

While waiting for admission,I had my mind filled up with how and what I'll do when I get admitted
Firstly, I'll not stay in the hotel,but I'll have my own apartment,talking of apartment shey na me go pay. Mtcheew
Then,since am not a fan of garri but I've been managing since Tinubu regime,I told myself that am not going to go with garri,but that was only my plan sha cos it was in my mind. And other plans of attending every fellowship.
Thank God i was admitted into the university. Two weeks before the resumption,I told my parents about an apartment close to the school and the readily accept and I was very happy cos I thought it was gonna be hard to convince them.
Well,my happiness was short lived when I was texted my hostel payment receipts and my room number. Sha I can not underestimate my parents.
Plan A failed, I still got plan B sha, I told my parents to forget about giving me garri but should give other things double in exchange for the garri.
But two weeks after resumption,na me become prodigal,Campus shege wan finish me, I called home, although I was chastised but my garri was sent😁😁
University life no be for small pikin

I was sitting listening to a French song, trying to pronounce each lyric.
French can be so deceiving, the way the words look on books often has little to do with how they sound, and I was determined to wrap my mouth around each note, even if I was making mistakes. I loved the very song playing and it was always heartbreaking listening to one of my favourite songs and yet I couldn't sing a verse.

With my headphones still on, I focused on the music, trying to translate some of the words into English, that was how I made french less difficult back in secondary school.
Suddenly, a flashback hit me, transporting me back to my secondary school days, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I didn't know enough in french but I loved French back then. It didn’t matter that it was a bit tough because I had my own little tricks to read and pass all tests and exams. I would often memorise my French classes with the help of familiar french music's that I knew their translations in English. Those songs made everything feel so accessible. I would sing along with joy, effortlessly picking up vocabulary that would come in handy later.

Compositions were always the best that i loved the most because i had those french songs at the back of my fingers, i would just translate the words and join them together to create complete sentences with meaning. I could also speak french by extracting and joining words from the many songs that I know.

Back then in my secondary school days I used to be very good in mathematics but after my WAEC I forgot everything about mathematics because I wanted to do medical course in the university so all my attention was on biology

Though from time to time I still try to test my knowledge on mathematical problems but most times I fail either I had forgotten the right approach or maybe I missed it along the line but that was never a problem because it has nothing to do with my academic but just an extra knowledge

Today happens to be one of those days to prove my intelligence a very good friend of mine she had just tried all things possible to remind me that she is more brilliant than myself but trust me a wouldn't allow that

The entire process began she was asking me medically related questions and I was doing so well but from know were she jumped into mathematics funny right

Anyways I am the man here so I was ready for any of her questions and then she drop the question which happens to be matrix particularly adjunct of matrix.

Omo it was actually the last I expected but what to do I just have to refresh my memories and dive into the the solving it was from one mistake to another but more excitingly is the fact that we were able to arrive at the exact answer.

The whole experience was indeed lit and getting to prove myself once again to her that I can be the boss just mad my day

My friend came up to me at school some days ago, looking a bit worried. She asked if I could help her set up a Cash App. She was almost pleading. “I really need it for some transactions, to explain how desperate she was, she was willing to pay any amount to get it done.

At first, I hesitated. I knew Cash App wasn’t officially available in Nigeria, and I knew all about how complicated it might be. But she was pleading too much as if i was her last hope.
She spoke on how she had met soecialist in the field but none arrived at anything useful.
After all the back and forth, I decided to at least see what I could do, so I reached out to a couple of my friends who might know more about it.

After contacting three of them, it became clear that they all found it an impossible task. They lamented about the processes involved in setting up a functional Cash App for someone in Nigeria and if at all it would work after all the stress.
I almost backed out after hearing from my friends, but then I thought, “What could be so tough about it after all?”

I spent the next two hours straight working on it. I read up on the requirements, downloaded all the necessary apps, and configured them one by one. The process felt overwhelming at times, but I was focused.

After a lot of trial and error and mixing all sort of delibrated possibilities and trying to match the recommended settings, I was finally making progress.

After those two hours of intense work, I realized I was about 60% done. I had set up the basic structures for a working Cash App, complete with an active dollar card.
I had to call it a day cos hunger was pressing on my neck.

Today, I had to plait my roommate’s hair, and everything would have gone smoothly if she had brought new wool. But she came with old, rough wool, which made things way harder than expected. We had to rub cream on each strand just to make it usable. After two hours, my fingers were red and sore from twisting.

What started as a simple task quickly turned frustrating when we realized, after four hours, we had barely made progress. The wool was tough, and it kept tangling, slowing us down. I was feeling so tired, but we couldn’t give up halfway.

I had no choice but to call in help. Our neighbors, who were better at plaiting, came to the rescue. They helped us rush through the rest of the hair, but even with extra hands, it was still a long process. At that point, we just wanted to finish before nightfall.

Finally, after hours of twisting, pulling, and cream-rubbing, we were done. It had taken way longer than expected, and we finished by 11 a.m. It was exhausting, but we laughed about it afterward, grateful to have gotten through it.

Today's exams was the best I've ever faced in the university, I didn't expect it to be so easy, right from the beginning of the semester, but it surprised me. The course title is Engineering Mathematics III, and as easy as it was to me, many came out lamented about how tough it was for them.

From the beginning of the semester, the lecturer that is taking the course doesn't allow anybody to enter the lecture hall again after he has started lecturing. He gives assignment every week, to be typed and printed, and submitted in the next class, anybody that doesn't make it to the lecture hall on time won't submit, as the door would have been shut.

The course had a practical aspect where an application called MATLAB is used to calculate the Engineering Mathematics. The practical was held twice in a facility outside the school, not too far from school, and it was already fixed by 4 pm, you're sure to be tired by this time of the day after stressing yourself from the beginning of the day. The practical was our C.A.

In all this, I was very active and participated in all, I never missed a lecture, did all the assignments and never went late to the lecture. The lecture was always by 8 am every Tuesday, and I was quite very afraid of the course, so I took it as a priority. I would leave my house by 6:45 am, just to make sure I'm there on time, and believe me, the attendance was very poor, only 20 students will show up in a department of 85 students. I personally did my assignments, studied in excess, I was fully involved.

The reason why the exam was very easy for me, and why it's difficult for others is very clear now. We all prayed concerning the course, it is the toughest of all, but only few could smile after the exams. God would only help those who help themselves. I told my coursemates as we walked back home, that there's no secret or shortcut to success, even God won't do anything in cases such as this. Study and God will help you understand and retain it, otherwise, you're on your own.

Last night, before I slept, I was deep worried about how stressful today was going to be.
I was worried about the always disturbing schedules by my school.

We were supposed to have a long lecture this morning which is supposed to start by 8 AM and end at 4 PM. That is a long time to sit, isn't it? But this school keeps treating us as if we were robots.

I thought about how I was to get breakfast this morning as there were no shops usually open at 8 AM to buy food from.

This morning, at 7 AM, my phone rang. I checked my phone and saw a message that our class was cancelled.
I was so happy that I jumped up and down in Celebration.

Around 9 AM, I got up to get some tea from a nearby shop and that was the last stressful thing that I remembered doing today, after that, I spent the day in bed. I did nothing and just rested.

Back in my university days, there was one chaotic day I’ll never forget. A seminar class was announced early in the morning around 6am, but I was still fast asleep. When I woke up around 9:30, I realized the class was scheduled for 8:30. Instead of checking with anyone if the lecturer was there, I just started preparing desperately.

As I hurried out, my shirt got caught on the door and tore badly. I was frustrated, but I quickly threw on another shirt and rushed out. On my way, while trying to run, I hit my foot on a tree root. My big toe started bleeding, but I couldn’t stop, I just had to make it to class.

I finally arrived, only to find that the lecturer hadn’t even shown up. I waited an hour in pain and frustration. Then, our class rep called, saying the class was canceled.

Everyone was overjoyed by the news, but I was sitting there, feeling completely drained and annoyed by all the unnecessary stress.

In September, my friends and I decided to take on a challenge through the Sweatcoin app, which required 150,000 steps for the month. We all saw it as a fun way to make memories, so we agreed to do it together. On a Saturday morning, we kicked things off, starting our walk at 7am.

By 11am, I had already reached 70,000 steps. But as much as I wanted to keep going, my body had other plans. I told my friends I couldn't continue, and they quickly agreed that it was time to stop before any of us fainted in the name of winning.

We found a nearby restaurant and decided to take a break. We ordered rice, ate, and rested there until about 1pm. It was a well-needed break to rest after the long walk. Feeling somehow refreshed, we trekked halfway back home before catching a tricycle for the rest of the journey.

When I finally got home, I checked the app and saw that I had managed to hit 76,000 steps for the day. Even though I didn’t reach the goal, I felt satisfied with my effort. Most importantly, I cherished the time I spent with my friends.
At the end of the day, the challenge wasn't just about contest anymore but the fun and memories we created together.

There was a time when I hadn’t yet secured a place to stay, so I ended up squatting with a friend in her hostel. I reasoned it would be temporary, but just two weeks after moving in, I noticed my hair had become infested with lice. It was shocking and frustrating, and after trying different things, the only real solution was to cut it all off.

This was my long, cherished hair that I had been growing for three years. Losing it because of the dirty environment around me felt so unfair, but I knew it had to be done. Even though it hurt to let go of my hair, my health came first, so I made the tough decision and cut it all off.

A week later, things got worse. The environment around the hostel became so unsafe that I was forced to pack my things and leave. It wasn’t just about the lice anymore, my safety was at risk, and staying there any longer was not an option.
Sometimes, the girls will complain of seeing a man at night walking around the girls' hostel and so many other disturbing things. Omo, thank goodness I survived.

A'ght.. people always mistake my personality and identity to something untraceable or rather unpredictable. I'm not proud about that, but well...

Let's take a ride back to my first year in the university.
Oh how friendly the guy was. But I am an introvert, so how possible was I so friendly?
Perhaps it was the excitement of being in the Uni?
Or maybe I had turned an extrovert after being admitted?
Who knows?, I don't myself.

Well let's get to the best part, I had very personal and intentional relationship with everyone in the department, and with time I took the post of the departmental DOI (director of Information) expanding my little influence afar from just the department.

The university and it's beauty had no ends, talk about all the pretty faces, the complexions, unimaginative elegance and the unique personalities of the lot that I encounter daily.

Pheeew!
Usually before I write a story, I pick a plot, but not this time, so let's get on with it.
My position as the DOI got my DM filled up with texts and messages from students who are either texting for fun or to make inquiries, and I enjoyed it.
I never turned off my data, and if I'm gone by a minute, then I must have kept a hundred unread messages waiting (exaggerating).

Life was certainly beautiful in first year until the Nationwide academic strike struck.
Skip to later, after the strike, I lost my touch with people as the strength was subdued. All this time away from school, focusing on earning extra income and all other things had clouded a part of me, and in some way the influx of messages and all the uneccessary questioning became tiring.

I should continue this story but I've got to rest a bit.

The first time I had to leave my state for the first time, to another state for my university education, where I didn't have any relative. It was a moment I will never forget, I had to tearfully say goodbye to my friends and colleagues at place of work, I cried like a baby. My parents asked me where I'll sleep before renting a house for myself, I told them not to worry and travelled without any hesitation.

During the journey, I refused to let myself get bothered with how I'm going to sleep, bath or go about things, I just kept thinking about my family and friends, and how much I was missing them already. I arrived the state late in the evening and got to the university gate by 8 pm. Walking into the university, it was so cold, and quiet, with street lights shining on a long and wide interlocked path.

I found myself where to sit and relax, it's been a long journey and I was really hungry and tired, but saw no where to buy food nor snacks, and it was certainly not gonna be a night for a premium rest, because I had nowhere to sleep. I called my family to tell them that I had arrived, my father asked if I had where to sleep, I answered yes and told him I was fine, because I didn't want to stir up worries and unnecessary tension.

I went there with my school bag which contained my clothes, cup, sponge, soap, toothbrush, and my documents, it's funny, the way my house had a basic set of house tools. I felt safe inside the school environment, so I looked for a convenient, safe and hidden spot which was the veranda of the school library, laid some clothes on the floor and slept on it. The night very cold with cold breeze blowing in a turbulent manner, I couldn't sleep well, but I sha slept.

The school security came to me and asked why I was sleeping there, I narrated my story to them and they left me in peace. Very early in the morning, around 5 am, I woke up and took my bath in a running tap I found there, I used my cup as a scooper to pour the water on my body, brushed my teeth and changed my clothes, and once everywhere was bright, I quickly bought snacks to eat and went about my registration and clearance activities.

At the end of the day, I returned to my sleeping spot and this time a very heavy rain fell, it was terrible cold throughout the night, I was shaking. The same security met me again and I told them I wasn't able to go in search for a house to rent, and they understood. Woke up very early again, bathed, brushed and once it was morning, I decided to go and find a house, I prayed to God that I didn't want to walk up to 15 minutes before finding a house to rent.

Surprisingly, I walked straight to a house that had only one vacant room, God had answered that prayer, faster than I imagined, I rented that house. My landlady asked when I'm moving into the house, I told her I've moved in already. There was nothing in the house, so I slept in the floor, at least it was better than sleeping outside in the cold. I gradually purchased the house equipments I needed, and began my university journey in earnest, I find this story inspiring. I wanted to see how unique my survival skills are and how best I could take care of myself. I did great.

I was in SS2, it was a third term, a time where the school management will choose prefects from SS2. I never pictured myself becoming a perfect, because I was extremely shy and I didn't want to take on so many responsibilities and tasks, so I made up my mind to decline any offer of prefectship, should it be pointed to me.

I was in class with my classmates during break time, when the compound master walked in and pointed out some of my classmates, including me, and took us to the principal's office. They wanted to make me the Senior Prefect, but I declined as planned and even recommended my classmate to them, to be appointed the Senior Prefect.

The principal wanted to know why I rejected the position, so I told him about my shyness, and he told me that we learn to do new things by doing them. After school was over, the compound master met me and told me that I have been appointed as the Senior Prefect, and that I should prepare a speech to be rendered after our inauguration the next day. I was terribly scared, I had never held any position before.

I got home and began to compose my speech, in as much as I was afraid, I didn't want to look confused when I'm called out to say something. The next day came, we were inaugurated and I had to address the whole school, both teachers and students, something I had never done in my life, I tried as much as possible to comport myself while I was addressing the school. I felt a sweet sensation when everybody clapped for me at the end of my speech, wasn't so difficult.

As time went on, the shyness couldn't just stay anymore, because I used to address the school twice a day, including meetings with principals and teachers, I was used to it already. Handling tasks and responsibilities helped improve me as an individual, I didn't abuse my power as the Senior Prefect, teachers and students loved me, because I always stood for the right thing. I'm happy to have been in that position, I learnt a lot, which includes how to handle tasks and responsibilities, how to manage people, boldness and decision making. It stays in me, I'm happy for that foundation.

See ehhn, I never knew nursing would be such a demanding course to study.
While I was yet to resume as a nursing student, I had always perceived nursing as a smooth going course, friendly, having to wear our white sparkly gowns and just address people's problems in peace.

It wasn't until I got to spend just a week in the school did I notice how tasking it was.
Me that was known to be chubby before, now I can't tell because today I'm chubby and the next day, i am one skinny girl.

It's my fault that whenever I heard people complained that the tertiary institutions was not an easy experience, I always saw them as lazy and carelessly speaking.
Recalculating my experience in this nursing school, I think there's no word good enough to define how stressful it really is especially for serious students.

Where should I start?
From the expenditures?
Should I talk about the long hours of teaching?
Should I talk about our steady relocations for an outreach, or the fact that I don't currently have a thousand naira as savings?

Whenever it is said that the school is a center for learning, you people shouldn't just focus on the surface meaning.
As for me, I have learnt to be hungry, I've learnt to spend the money that I don't have, I have learnt to speak up, to explore any opportunity I catch and many other things.
My people, school no easy and I congratulate everyone of you in school. And if you are not in school, work hard on yourself and dont ever feel inferior because as they say: what Ada doesn't have, Obi will have.

I had this important event at school that I was told I absolutely had to attend. But, at the same time, I was waiting for a client of mine to give me the final go-ahead to start his work. It was a confusing situation because I didn’t want to miss out on the event, but I also didn’t want to delay the client’s project.

After weighing my options for a while, I made up my mind to head back to school. The trip itself took about five hours, and I was much tired by the time I arrived. I decided to take some time to rest and prepare for the next day, thinking everything would go as planned.

Later that night, I got the frustrating news that the school event had been canceled. That alone was disappointing enough. But to make matters worse, my client finally reached out, right after the event was called off and gave me the signal to start working on his project.

At that point, I was beyond frustrated. I had already made the long trip to school, which now felt like a total waste, and I realized I’d have to make the stressful journey back just to get started on the work. The timing of everything was worse.

It’s hard not to feel a bit annoyed by the whole situation. If I had just known about the event cancellation a little earlier, I could have avoided all this unnecessary stress and stayed where I was, ready to begin the client’s work as soon as he called.

Yesterday our neighborhood experienced a power outage, like everywhere was in darkness, leaving us without light or electricity.
My devices were almost dead before 2am today.

I struggled to find out about the class this morning, only me and God fit talk how far i went just to get to know the class that we were to have this morning and its venue.

During the class, I reached out to a friend to borrow a power bank, but she wasn't available.

I found it difficult to focus in class because I needed to charge my phone, there were just many things that I felt I was missing out on without my phone.

Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better, my friend who I had contacted earlier surprised me by showing up with the power bank. The joy no be here as I collected the life saver.

When the class ended and i wanted to gove it back, she insisted that I keep it for my use at home. That kind gesture truly made my day, it meant a lot.

I faced some heavy temptations in my 100 level in the university, the coursemates I had were clearly a different class of human beings, quite very different from me. They had eyes on luxurious life, and yet they couldn't think of positive ways to achieve it. They almost influenced me with the negative ideas and ways they went about this, they always complained about having responsibilities to take care of, in their family.

I tried to let them know that they shouldn't allow the pressure of being the first child, and maybe having younger siblings that are looking up to them, to be their most important problem, especially for the reason that it's just their first year in the university. They claimed that they are only trying to be responsible and perhaps make their parents and family members proud of them.

Soon after, some of them started doing Internet fraud, and started skipping classes. Some went into rituals that would require a part of their body to be cut off completely, and terms was given that they only have ten years to live on earth. I couldn't imagine the length these guys forced themselves to reach, all to please their family and make them proud. There are better ways of getting these things done, the path they had chosen wasn't the right one.

Currently, most of them have dropped out of school, either they are apprehended and locked up by the EFCC or frustration and depression has taken over them. The ones that went into rituals dropped out of school, because they had limited time to live, they were only given 10 years to live all the luxurious life they had ever dreamt of. What a waste, the family they were trying to please are now very disappointed in them. There are more better ways to make your parents and family very proud, and I wish these people had chosen the better way, their life would have still been going smoothly.

Today felt like a year long as we sat in attendance to a long lecture that ended around 5 PM.
Wnen the class finally ended, i returned home with my course mate, who lived next door to my room.

On our way back, we talked about how tired we were and hope to go together to the nearest restaurant to grab some food as soon as we have taken a little rest.

Our plans changed when the skies opened up, and it started raining heavily. The rain came down without warning for over three hours, and by 9 PM, I couldn't wait any longer, my stomach growled in tiredness.

When my instincts told me that the rain wasn't going to stop any soon, I took my umbrella and dashed out into the downpour, making my way to my course mate’s room.

I knocked on her door, and when she answered, the look on her face was showing frustration. She admitted that she couldn't wait any longer either, and without hesitating, we decided to venture out together, under the rain.

Today was the day of our seminar presentation. Pheeeew 😞 I was feeling both excited and nervous. But I had worked really hard to prepare. Day and night, I was reading these materials like I don't have life.
I wanted to impress everyone with my knowledge.

When it was time to present, my orher classmates started showing their PowerPoint slides on the whiteboard. As I watched my classmates present, I noticed that many of them added beautiful images and nice backgrounds to their slides.
my own presentation was different. I didn’t have any images at all. My slides were plain, and I worried that they might not catch anyone's attention.

Despite this, I focused on my demonstration. I spoke clearly and passionately about my topic. I shared important points and explained everything in a way that I hoped they would understand.

After everything, i finished my presentation and answered questions which I was sure I did justice to and when I was done, I was surprised with their loud reactions.
Even though my PowerPoint slides weren’t as impressive as some of the others, my demonstration stood out in a special way and their loud clapping proved my point.
It's actually sweet to read.

After church yesterday, I decided to do some cleaning in my room. As I was sweeping and dusting off my old books, I came across upon a course textbook from my university days. I remembered how much I hated that subject back then. It brought back memories, mostly of frustration and night classes filled with confusion.

Out of curiosity, I decided to sit down and flip through the notes. As I read through the pages, something interesting happened. Concepts that had once seemed impossible to know started to click, everything began to make sense. I couldn't believe it was the same content that had driven me crazy before.

I thought about all those late nights I spent attending extra classes, desperately trying to understand the subject. I recall feeling overwhelmed, sitting in the back of the class, staring at the lecturer, and wondering why I couldn’t grasp what everyone else seemed to find so easy. I worked hard, but all I managed to get was a D.

But now, looking back, those memories don’t feel so bad. They remind me of my perseverance and that it’s okay to struggle sometimes; it’s part of the journey