Adelola(chronicles of a Nigerian teenager)

 There comes a time in life when we will have to leave the home we grew up in,the friends we've known all our life and move on,to somewhere bigger, University.    I sat,sprawled on the floor,my clothes scattered all over the room, a big box opened before me. I spent hours sitting on the floor,deciding what to pack for school. My university was a Christian university and in the email they sent with my admission letter,they stated clearly so many dress codes and conduct.      My mother and I went shopping a few weeks ago. It was the first time I shopped without getting some of my usual clothes.   "Mummy said you should come  for dinner"my baby sister said, barging into my room uninvited.    "Get out,"I barked. She stuck her tongue out and banged the door. I was used to her craziness and, of course, I was going to miss her a lot.    I heaved a sigh of frustration. Pushing through my piles of clothes,I went downstairs. My family wasn't the kind that sat together at a dining table,said prayers and began dishing food out. No,we would rather eat wherever we felt comfortable.   I walked into the kitchen, my food was already dished out on a plate. I stared at the black lump of amala and the watery ewedu with red,hot peppery stew. I was so nervous I lost my appetite. Normally,I should have gobbled down the food in seconds but today, I wasn't hungry,I was nervous about what the university held.   I sat on a stool in the kitchen and placed the food on my lap. When I registered for Jamb,I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life at that point. I began to question my life choices. When I was in SS1, we were given a chance to pick what we would major in,either science or art. I didn't realize how much of a determinant that would be in my life right now. My father advised me to go with science and my friends told me they would be majoring in science too.    I was into art more back then.I'd read novels,write stories,go to debates and even act in plays. Then there was science.I always admired when seniors would put on their lab coats during practicals. For some reason,it was a big deal back then.I thought everyone who put on a lab coat was super smart and intelligent. Well, I learnt that wasn't true when I put on a lab coat.     I finally chose science out of peer pressure and advice from my father. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to study in the future, but I was very sure I didn't want anything to do with medicine. When my first test score came,I scored one out of fifteen questions. Some of the girls who got low scores decided they were going to change to arts. There was no way I could change.I didn't want people to see me as that girl who couldn't handle science or even mock me.     I convinced my parents to get me a tutor that would take me on core science subjects like physics, chemistry and further math. My father quickly agreed because he wanted to do exceedingly well in my academics so I could stand a chance at a bright future. On second thought,he wanted me to do well so he could have something to brag about to his friends. I really didn't understand the concept of grown men sitting at a table, talking and comparing the successes of their children,it was totally absurd to me.   Throughout my senior year,the only subject I passed with ease was biology. I loved everything about it,it was beautiful and interesting to me.I could stay up for hours reading my biology textbook. My favorite topic was reproduction. In fact,everyone loved reproduction because the teacher talked about reproductive organs and that excited us.   I remained an average C student throughout secondary school,not that there was no room for improvement,I found it really difficult to push through even though my tutor made it a little easier. One of my worst subjects was organic chemistry. How I escaped with an E was a miracle because I was expecting a big F on my result sheet.    The joint admissions and matriculations board (jamb) exam came. It was one of the entrance examinations to the tertiary level. I was still confused about what I wanted to be. Most of my friends decided to study food nutrition but I knew better than to mention it to my parents. They believe in studying major courses like medicine, accounting and the likes of that. They believed studying courses like French,food nutrition and other minor courses was a waste of time and resources. I checked for courses I could study and would get their approval. I settled for aviation and aeronautical engineering. That was the only course I felt would make sense because I would be traveling a lot and I've never been on a plane.     I took the  exam and put the University of Lagos as my choice of tertiary institution. The exam was really difficult,I had to take further math, chemistry and English, even God knew the only thing I had an idea about was English. When the results came out,I scored two hundred and ten, which was really bad considering the fact that I wanted to study at the University of Lagos and I also wanted to study aeronautical engineering, but I didn't meet the cut off mark required for it.    If I wanted to go to university that year,the course I would have been offered by the university would be a 'minor' course and, of course, my parents didn't approve of that. I also didn't want to take a gap year because my friends would be at tertiary level, posting pictures and I'd be at home watching them. My mom decided I had to go to a private university.I was skeptical at first. How were my parents going to afford a private university?     Only a few universities in Nigeria offer aeronautical engineering and this private university was not among them. My mom advised me to make a change of course because my parents could not afford to send me abroad to study the course properly as most universities in Nigeria were not well equipped for aeronautical engineering.   On a fateful Friday,she took me to a jamb center where I did a change of course. The man in charge showed me a couple of courses that I could change to I stared at the screen for a while and then chose geology. I really don't know what geology was about,like I said,I didn't even know what direction my life was going,all I knew was that I was living,just existing.   I picked geology because I was pretty good at geography in secondary school,so geology and geography would definitely be related.   My parents approved of the course after making phone calls and doing a little research, like typical Nigerian parents.  On a sunny Sunday, my mom called me and said we had better start searching for a private university. I was a little bothered at first because I heard private universities were 'glorified secondary schools'. Basically, they restrict your movements and everything you do.   On the other hand, if I told my friends I was at a private university, they'd see me as a 'rich man's daughter' and that was something to brag about. Also,private universities didn't go on strike like public universities,so I was very certain that if I signed up for a four-year course,I was definitely going to leave university after the stipulated time without any break in transmission.     Finally, we settled at Jesuit memorial university. I had never heard of the university. After a little research,I found out the university was located in Osun state. The school fees were quite expensive but the good thing was that they allowed the fees to be paid in installments. We began to fill out forms on the university's website,and a few weeks later,my admission letter came. I was admitted into Jesuit Memorial University to study geology and Earth science for four years.    My mom and dad were very happy about my admission,they called their friends and whoever cared to listen to them to spread the news. I wasn't exactly happy about it. The only thing that brought excitement to me was that I was going to be far away from my parents.     And that was how I landed here,in my kitchen with a loss of appetite because my school was resuming the following week.      "Adelola,won't you eat your food?"my mom asked, walking into the kitchen.    "I'm not hungry ma"I said, standing on my feet.   "You're not hungry, ke?"she asked, adjusting her asoke on her chest."you must eat o"    "University baby"my mom teased me. I wanted to roll my eyes but there was no way I could, especially if I didn't want a slap to land across my face.    "Oh, I can't wait for you to enter University"she said, clapping her hands."my baby girl will now be a university babe."   I tried to finish up my food quickly,all I wanted was to run away from her and lock myself up in my room.   "You know when you were in boarding school it was just like yesterday"she began, almost every time,she would repeat the story of how I was reluctant to go to a boarding school.     "You were very reluctant. I tried to convince you that it was a very good choice to make, but no way. Somehow God touched your heart and you went,can't you see, just like child's play. You are already done with secondary school,six years gone like that."   Most times when she says somehow God touched my heart,I want to laugh out loud. I only decided to go because it was an opportunity to run away from home,an opportunity to be free.         "Your auntie in London called, in fact she was very excited about it,she was also suprised that Adelola she used to carry as a child is now a big girl",she continued to chatter.    There were a couple of aunties and uncles that would come to the house and they say"oh don't you remember me?I used to take care of you as a child,I fed you,I changed your diapers."   Sometimes I wondered if they were dumb or if their thinking faculty was working just fine. How did they expect me to remember them from sixteen years ago?I was only a child for heaven's sake.     "Make sure you call her o"mom said. I was irritated by all her talking but I dared not show it.   "Ehn,"she said, tapping my shoulders.  Once she began a sentence with ehn, I knew some serious gist or gossip was about to leave her mouth.   "You know Mrs Smith that lives down the street,her daughter didn't gain admission"she said. I was right,it was definitely gossip. Sometimes,I wondered if she wasn't bored. I just remained quiet whenever she began all these long talks,it never occurred to her that I wasn't interested or something.   "They found out that she paid someone to help her write WAEC"  Okay,I definitely didn't see that one coming.WAEC was one of the exams taken in the final year of secondary school. It was also a requirement to enter university. I heard  people who attended private secondary schools were able to pay someone smart enough to help them write their exam. It was never heard of in my school because my school was a federal school,it belonged to the government.      "Oh"that was all I said to her.  "My dear, I was really shocked,she would come to church and be bragging about her daughter's result, while she paid someone to write for her"  I was equally shocked too, because I thought Mrs Smith's daughter was really smart with the way she spoke big grammar.   "Please, I want to use the toilet"I said and escaped from my mother's talk.