Debt′s Toll: A Graduate′s Ransom

Tartenger clutched the worn acceptance letter, the paper crinkling under his sweaty palm. Finally, his bachelor's degree in Engineering awaited, just beyond the registrar's counter. But between him and that coveted parchment stood a wall of debt: unpaid tuition fees, a grim mountain grown over three years of struggle.

He'd juggled menial jobs, nights bleeding into bleary mornings, sleep a luxury traded for textbooks. Each cobbled naira felt like a chip at the granite edifice of his debt. Dates turned into coffee dates, friendships frayed around the edges of borrowed textbooks. Every laugh felt tinged with guilt, every triumph haunted by the phantom figure of his due.

Today, though, hope burned brighter than exhaustion. He'd scraped together the final chunk, a crumpled wad of bills held together by desperate prayer. Crossing the threshold into the bank on campus, he was met by the registrar's bored gaze. Tartenger laid down the money, watching the stack disappear with a bureaucratic sigh.

"Clearance received," the registrar droned at back at the academic complex, handing him a slim folder.

Fingers trembling, Tartenger unfolded the document. There, in stark black and white, was his name, his degree, and a bittersweet freedom. Relief, like a dam breaking, washed over him. He left the registrar's office a lighter man, the weight of debt replaced by the promise of a new beginning. The paper rustled in his hand, a testament not just to academic achievement, but to a debt paid, a ransom settled, and a graduate finally set free.

In God I trust!