RISK

I learned school is for the rich because of the high demand in the academic system, the high level of dropout for the poor, and the emotional breakdown they go through without support.

So in 2018, when I returned from Port Harcourt as a maid, I got arrested for what I was innocent of, though God showed up for me. On reaching my hometown a few months later, I lost my dad to the cool hands of Death that same year. Life became tough, so I became a full-grown woman as a teenager. I did all manner of jobs, and the pay was low, but I thank God it could put food on our table. Earlier, before my father's demise, I registered for Jamb, but since I was a maid in another state, I spoke with my boss about it, and they didn't grant me the permission to go sit for it. They said they would send me to school, which they didn't, and sent me to a restaurant to sell food for them, and my dreams were passing out right before my own eyes. I could see my dreams fade.

So when my father's burial was fixed as the first child, much was on me and Mom. We travelled to the village, and the burial was held. My uncle didn't want us to bury him like a full-grown man, but thank God there was unity within my immediate family. So during the burial period, my date for Jamb was fixed immediately after they laid my dad to rest. I traveled back that same day with pains. My mother was so sick that I had to feed her the whole time. The whole thing was much more.The risk I took, which my aunty boldly and openly asked me about, was, who will send you to this school that you are aspiring to and wanting to go and write exams for? I told her, "God will," and then I left.

She wasn't wrong with her question; she was telling me it's too early to embark on such journeys, but I have always been a risk taker. I don't allow emotions to sabotage my plans. Yes, I have faced so much pain as a growing teenager, but I understand that risk takers can either win or lose, but the sight of losing is less; it often happens when you start losing hope.

It was a journey of hunger and migraine because of so much work and sleepless nights and a journey of not shifting my ground for mediocrity, but I can tell you all of this: I had an accident that affected my spine, though I'm healing, but I still came out with my degree. I got a scholarship in the year 300 and I learnt risk doesn't listen to emotions and challenges around they pick the plan and get it done, I'm proud of the woman I have become I know you too can learn from it

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