DIRECTIONLESS- I TOOK VITAMIN-C FOR WEEKS AFTER MY WEDDING

Saturday Special Feature

“It was crazy smuggling from one state to the other...”

“It's not like I'd come and kill myself because I'm married!”

On Directionless, Martins Favour, a contributor and a member of the reach out team, conducted an interview with Stella, a student of Abia State University.

In this interview, Stella shares her riveting and amazing story of survival and tying the knot in a chaotic world of a pandemic and an incompetent educational sector.

Favour: Hello Stella, Good afternoon, My name is Martins Favour, a student of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Can you please introduce yourself? Your name, school, department and level.

Stella: Hello Favour, I'm Stella, a 500 level Law student of Abia State University.

Favour: Wow, that's awesome. Thank you so much for accepting to do this interview. So, how has the break been for you generally?

Stella: I'd say the break has been good.

Favour: Tell me what you've been up to, how have you felt? This is a safe space, remember.

Stella: The holiday so far has been good even though it started off on a very bad note for me, because I was supposed to have my wedding on Easter Monday, that's April 13th before it was moved. I had already sent out invitations and I had to send a memo telling people the wedding has been moved to a further date. It was heartbreaking. I thank God that at some point, I was able to achieve a lot. It's been good so far. I did my traditional wedding during the lockdown and it was crazy smuggling from one town to another because the borders were closed. My church wedding was in August after the lockdown had been relaxed.

Favour: Stella, I absolutely love your answer. This is amazing! My next question is, what was your dream wedding like? Before the lockdown and strike and all of that. Did you want a small wedding? Did you want something big? Did your plan eventually match what you finally did? Which would you have preferred? Your initial plan or what you finally did?

Stella: I've never really wanted a loud wedding. I've always just wanted a ‘come-and-pay-the-bride-price’ kind of wedding. I finished planning my wedding before the lockdown so, nothing actually changed. I got exactly what I planned so the only difference was choosing a new date.

Favour: A come-and-pay-the-bride-price wedding, Lol. I like that!! It's amazing that you got exactly what you planned. What is your plan on resumption? Do you guys plan to settle in Abia? What's your plan in terms of accommodation?

Stella: We live in Port Harcourt, and when school resumes, I'd definitely resume too. I'd go from my lodge.

Favour: So, how do you intend to cope with school when it resumes? Is marriage going to change anything about school for you?

Stella: The truth is that, nothing really changed except the status from Miss to Mrs. So school would just be almost the same way for me.

Favour: What about babies? Do you want to wait till after school or you're cool with having babies while in school?

Stella: I'm pregnant already.

Favour: Wow, that's amazing! We have a baby on the way! Would you say your life has changed since marriage though? Have you taken on new responsibilities? Have you been studying as usual and has it affected your old friendships?

Stella: I'd say my life has changed but not completely. Just the status like I said earlier. I get respected sometimes because of my wedding band. I'm pregnant now. My life has actually changed but I can't really pinpoint anything exactly that has changed about it. I have taken new responsibilities though. Living with my husband and all. It's not like I'd kill myself because I'm married. I do the most I can and leave the rest. I've not opened my books since the lockdown started. I was in a hurry to pack my things and I forgot to pack some of my books. As for my friends, I just have a small circle and it's still intact. My friends came visiting a while ago and they stayed for more than a week in my house.

Favour: You can't come and kill yourself. LMAO. I've given up on my own school books too. I was reading before sha. ASUU says we should learn a skill, travel and have fun. That's what I'm doing

Stella: That's what I'm doing too. Lol

Favour: Waitttt... I didn't even ask about the honey moon!

Stella: Wasn't supposed to be in Nigeria.

Favour: Bahamas?

Stella: As at August I was still a bit scared of corona. So we moved it to next year. It's now a carryover course.

Favour: Wow! Amazing! Next year's a heartbeat away though. Lol. Asides marriage, we told you that Directionless is a platform that shares the survival stories of Nigerian undergraduates? So was there a time when you ever felt directionless? Did you learn a skill or get a job?

Stella: No. I already have a skill. Been a makeup artist for more than 5 years, so I wasn't bothered about that aspect of acquiring a skill. And I wasn't so much in a hurry for school to resume either because the only thing in my head was to survive corona. I was so scared of it. So I guess those things took over my being "directionless".

Favour: I'm glad it's a story of survival. So... Did you expand your skill? Like get better, get more customers or anything?

Stella: Nope. I locked myself inside my house all through the lockdown. Turned down every client I got too. I didn't even go to church till my wedding day. Once I stepped out to a supermarket and someone came close to me, I had to ask the person if he was okay.

Favour: Are you for real? It's interesting though. I wonder how the person must have felt. So, at what point did you get a bit lax about the whole safety precautions?

Stella: I still carry my sanitizer and mask around. I no longer shake people. Got carried away at my wedding, but I did not shake or hug anyone. The only time I remember having close contact was when I was dancing. Took vitamin C for some weeks sha.

Favour: Wow!! You. Are. Amazing!

Chimdi: But are you looking forward to school? Like if this did not happen you'd have graduated by now.

Stella: I'm mentally shut down for the year. I want school to resume in January

Favour: Anyways, what was your support system with all of these going on? God? Family? Your husband?

Stella: God, My husband, Family

Favour: I'm glad you had a support system through all of these.

Favour: Okay we're about to end, but do you have any other thing you want to say to us?

Stella: Uhhhmmmm… I'm actually excited that I was able to do this interview without misbehaving. Lol. I wasn't even granted an interview in my own wedding because of how unserious I usually am. Feels good though.

Favour: Lol I like your vibes! Thank you so much Stella for joining us here. I'm glad to have been part of this.