DIRECTIONLESS- MY LIFE SO FAR

Feature Story

January 28- I headed straight back to the hostel after writing the last paper of my penultimate year, heading straight back to the hostel was not something I would ordinarily do, being the last day of the semester, I’d hang around to have what was supposedly meant to be the last fun of the semester, but this was no time for fun, it was a time for sober reflection. In about a year I’d be done with school and will have to face the question I’ve avoided for so long- What am I going to do with my life?

I’ve been in countless number of discussions with friends about goals and ambition, and it seemed everybody has their shit figured out except you know-me, with less than a year left, I knew I had to get my shit together, so I got back to a very quiet hostel, my roommate was out and I had the room to myself- just what I needed. I realized I needed help in figuring out what my passions are, so I googled for books on that, I read a couple reviews and I finally settled for two, armed with these I was ready for the ‘one month’ holiday.

I had just one month to do this [or so I thought]. I started the book the almost immediately on getting home, I really meant business, the introduction was good , I was in fact encouraged that there are several people out there having a hard time discovering their passions, all the book said basically was to try new and things and keep my eyes open, ‘oh man I should have read this book a long time ago’ was my thought, how am I supposed to try new things in what is supposed to be my final and most busy year in school. I needed more time!

I remember waking up one morning to the news that the country has recorded her first case of COVID-19, it was a sense of panic at first, having read and seen various forecast on the estimated impact on this part of the world , the scenes from the many zombie movies I’d seen over the years flooded my mind, I remember telling my mum to start to stocking up all on essentials[ sounds a little bit silly in retrospect], I feared the worst.

I couldn’t really do anything those early days, I buried myself in movies as a distraction. When it became evident that we were not going to have it as bad as predicted, I started checking out tutorials on something I’d wanted to try for so long but kept putting it off, it turned out I actually do have a knack for this. It suddenly felt really good to get up each morning.

By now you probably would have noticed I haven’t said anything regarding the 9 months strike, honestly, I really do not care what ASUU does, I’ve got this mindset, and I guess it’s imperative to have this mindset in a country like this ‘all things work together for my good’. Whenever they deem it fit we return to school, God’s gon make it good for me. Is that too passive of an approach to life for you? Yeah, I’ve learnt that’s the best approach to certain things life throws at you, I’m not about losing sleep over something I literally have no control over.

Do I finally have it together now? Nah, this is more like the very first step of a thousand miles journey, but it really does feel good to know I’ve got a knack for something. Is it going to work out? Frankly I’ve got no idea, but at least now I’m headed somewhere.

Contributor: Olaniyi (FUNAAB)

Edited and Published by Directionless