The Average African Teen Experience.

One of those days as a senior student.

My life as senior student was mostly fun, interesting and savage altogether. One of the savage experiences I had, occurred when I was a prefect.

Back then, I was very good in most of the subjects I was offering. I am and was a very bright and active student and that alone gave me a reputable recognition amongst my teachers.

One of the subjects I was very good at was Civic Education. My love for this particular subject started right from junior secondary school. So by the time I was a senior student, I was already very good at the subject.

Civic Education is a subject offered by both arts and science students in my school and that did not affect my performance in the subject as I performed better than everybody in both departments.

My Civic teacher, Mr. Benjamin, was known to be very strict and disciplined in his dealings with students. We had a nickname for him and that was "Military Man". We called him Military Man because of his disciplined way of life.

Mr. Benjamin was fond of me for two reasons. One reason is that we bear the same name, "Benjamin". At that time I beared the name, "Faith Benjamin". Another reason why he was fond of me was the fact that I was really good at Civic Education.

We got into a new term and the stress from prefect duties had already started bringing me down. I would have to miss one or two classes to get one or two things done. Sometimes I'll leave school late because I had to be present in one or two meetings. I barely sleep at night as I had to use up my bed time to get my assignments done, complete my notes and read. It was a hard time for me. I was struggling to cope.

Mr. Benjamin had caught me sleeping in one of his classes and spared me. I bet if it were someone else, he'll give that student a befitting punishment. The next day, we had Civic Education and Mr. Benjamin didn't hesitate to show up for his classes. I wasn't feeling too well that morning. It was that time of the month and adding to all the stress I was been put through at the time, it was already looking like something else was going on. I had to excuse myself from Mr. Benjamin's class twice to pour out saliva. Mr. Benjamin was watching me throughout the lecture. I struggled to sit up. I just wanted to sleep. One of my friends asked why I didn't just stay at home If I knew I wouldn't be strong enough. I answered her saying, "I don't just think it's enough reason for me to miss school".

Yes I loved school that much. After the class, I followed Mr. Benjamin out of the class to pour out saliva for the third time. I was about getting back to the class when Mr. Benjamin called out my name. I walked up to where he was standing. He looked straight into my eyes and asked me what the problem was. I replied saying, "nothing". He asked again, "are you sure?" "Yes", I said trying not to maintain an eye contact. He asked after my parents and I told him they should be at their various work places. Then he said, "so otua igha e sowego umunwoke?" translated in English it means, so at this age you've started following boys? I was a bit confused when I heard that. I didn't even know what to say. I was very shocked to hear that. "How?" I said after a few seconds of silence from the both of us. Then he said, "I've been watching you recently and I can see the changes on your body. You think I don't know you're pregnant? I'm disappointed in you Faith....". He walked out saying some other things I didn't hear clearly.

I stood at the spot trying to think. I didn't even know what to think. I just asked myself, "what just happened?" I walked straight to the school library. I walked into the library, got myself a hidden spot and cried my eyeballs out. I wasn't sure why I was crying at some point. I wasn't sure if it was because of the pain I was receiving or the misunderstanding I had with Mr. Benjamin some moments ago.

I remained there until some of my close friends came looking for me. They asked me what happened and I told them. Their reaction was annoying. They said it was my fault and that I made it noticeable. Seriously, is there anything as this? I'm asking the reader.

In case you're wondering, things didn't go well again between Mr. Benjamin and I. He just kept seeing me as one good student that turned wild. I wished I told him the problem that day. You can't blame a confused fifteen year old. I felt awkward telling a male teacher that I was on my period but now that I know better, I realized I should have just told him. That could have saved me the problem that came later on.

As a young girl reading this story, if you ever find yourself in this position, please speak up. It's not your fault that you mensturate monthly. It's a natural phenomenon and you should not be shy about it.

As an adult reading this story, please and please don't be too quick to judge so that you don't end up judging wrongly. There's always another part of the story.

I hope you enjoyed this story. Stay safe and watch out for the next episode.

Peace.