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A Year of Service, A Lifetime of Lessons

Service, friendship, growth They say life is in stages- I agree. But if I hadn’t passed through the challenges that came with NYSC and made it to this point, I’d probably still be in comatose, asking God “Why me?” Before graduation, my friends; Lucy, Kyen, Melody, and I, discussed where we’d love to be posted for service. We’d done the entire four (technically six) years of university together, so it only made sense to plan to do life after school together, or at least close enough. We compared dreams, and they basically aligned. Little did we know. You know, when you’re in a particular stage of life and preparing for its end, the only logical thing to do is to dream of better, to stay optimistic, because faith, among other things, teaches us to believe that there’s always better ahead. Camp was the experience. I’d attended boarding school and even gone to camp as a junior cadet back in secondary school. I remember an endurance trek we went on one morning that nearly rendered my legs i...
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CAMP SERIES: EPISODE 11

Lesson learnt; rinse and never repeat. Who else went through this in boarding school? You'll get punished because you're waiting for your bestie to finish dressing up so you both can leave the hostel together. Your bestie is always late but the last time you ran out of the hostel and left her when the final bell for the next activity rang, she didn't talk to you for a week and that was the most miserable week of your life because she effortlessly recruited your other mutual friends to the beef when she told them the story. After junior class though, I left that senseless behaviour for people who had the strength.     While on camp, it was easy to lose track of time especially during that break between lunch and siesta. People used the time to eat, gist, sleep, watch movies, wash their clothes and do a lot of other things because the break usually lasted for up to 2 hours. One minute you'll be gisting and laughing then somehow after you've just finished spreading you...

CAMP SERIES: EPISODE 10

If na your sister you go allow her do this thing?”    Y ou know how you'll be required to be a certain way because of your profession? Or how people already have ideas about you because of your occupation? For example, we all associate lousiness with ‘market women’ but aren't there market women who go to their stands or shops at the market everyday and just do the necessary cajoling, sell their stuff and go home when it's time? We associate receptionists and waitresses as you know what, we expect all teachers to be strict. We see soldiers and become shaken because a soldier doesn't smile with civilians or with anybody at all.     I can't lie, I was really terrified seeing so many soldiers in one place when I first got to camp. I've always had this deep love and respect for the complete soldiers kit and their carriage, but now I know from experience that it is a different thing to admire them from afar and a different thing to be in the same space for a whol...

MY CAMP SERIES: EPISODE 9

Experiences differ from human to human. Listen, but be hungry for yours. I can guarantee that more than 50% of what they'll tell you before you get to camp would be true, but there'll definitely be more.     Some of my favourite people are going to camp this week and I'm so glad because I'll be on the receiving end of the gist but this time, I'll be listening with experience. This episode is especially for them.    We all see things differently and tell stories based on how things affect us.  I remember one theme song that time on Africa magic that sang, “experience is like bag everybody carry him own ”. That's exactly it.     Regardless of my unstable emotions around the time I was to go to camp and on the way too, I felt this thrill when I finally got to Kebbi state. I finally parted ways with this woman and her two kids who had been sleeping on my body for most of the journey from Minna.  My head magically felt light, my heart was thu...

Dare to dream- you are more than the figure you see in the mirror.

In one episode of Young Sheldon, Sheldon asked the librarian what her religion was because he was learning about different religions in order to find the one he liked better. She said her religion teaches that when people die they go their own planets but women have to go to their husband's planet, except her because she's single.    In all 23 years of my life, I have battled with people's different beliefs in relation to love, respect and ambitions. It's been a tough and conflicting battle on what to belief as right or not. I have made my own assumptions and research based on what I've been taught intentionally and I believe at this point, I have the right standing.     The argument about God's intention when he took a rib out of man to create woman is one that can put one's brain in a turmoil. Did God mean for a woman to only be a helpmate and not have her own identity? Did he instruct Adam to be fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth by himself?   ...

MY CAMP SERIES EPISODE 5

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. - Thomas A. Edison “We're full, you can't join”    I entered camp with so much zeal and my blood pumping to do all that was required and at the same time have fun just like everyone advised. In the first 4 days of the first week, I joined my platoon in all her parade preparations.  I've always loved parades because of the sounds of the band and all the blood pumping activities that follows. I literally have chills when the drums begin and the parade commander marches forward to get permission from whomever, for the parade to continue. Everything just goes in perfect rhythm; legs, hands, e.t.c,. I think I fell partially in love with the parade band leader and the parade commander. Follow @sewuese_writes on IG to see videos of the band boy in action so you'll judge if my heart was right or not.     Things were going smoothly, in fact I was marching wi...

MY CAMP SERIES: EPISODE 8

Victory at last! You remember how I said I was prepared to march my platoon to victory even if it meant independently, right? Well, we attained victory, and alas, without my help. Walk with me as I tell you how this unofficial 8th wonder of the world happened.    Remember my first week before I ran to join the OBS crew? I told you in one episode that I was eager to march alongside my platoon members because I've always loved parades; the seriousness, the sound of the drums and all the other activities involved? You remember? Somewhere again I told you how scared I was of the soldiers in camp and how I couldn't comprehend the fact that some corpers even had the nerve to stand and gist with them, correct?     Even though I moved to OBS, I didn't really abandon my platoon, I was still nursing the hope that I could avoid the punishments and trainings ‘under the sun or in the rain’, and somehow still participate in the parade. I kept going back to check on things, I ...