— College Experience
Chapter Eleven Little Beginnings – One of the best experiences in life is the college experience.
The college experience is without doubt a significant one. While still in primary school, a teacher told the graduating pupils that there was no guarantee that they would all see each other after graduation. Neither would they head in the same direction in life.
The teacher went further to explain that some might drop out of high school, while others might never step foot into college.
The remarks of the teacher were too strong for Temitope to analyze, so she went home to explain all the teacher had said to the pupils.
Her mother took time to explain to her that one of the few privileges available to men, especially in a country like Nigeria, is education. And if one is not wise enough to seize this opportunity, one might regret it in later years.
Iya Ibeji explained to her daughter what Sisi Akowe told her: ‘’Education might not make you successful like the world expects you to be, but it will surely make you resourceful because resourcefulness is the end product of education.’’
In Nigeria, where the young have to strive to gain admission into the university, education cannot be taken lightly. Even after trying for years, the weak and unstable educational system has a way of discouraging one’s effort.
Also Read CHAPTER TEN Little Beginnings
The college experience for those studying abroad entails diversity of culture and embrace of one another, irrespective of color, race, beliefs, and norms.
Even though most people agree that college experience prepares you for the real world, some still disagree and believe that if you were unwise before entering college, college life will only make you more foolish. It boils down to this: be wise and become wiser in college, or be foolish and graduate with your foolishness.
Mr. Kogberegbe, who lectured at the University of Lagos, was a popular man on the campus. As his name implies, ‘Kogberegbe,’ one who does not entertain foolishness, he exercised strict discipline and standards for all his students and expected the very best from them. He was so strict to the extent that his son carried his course over for losing focus.
He was expecting preferential treatment from his father and other lecturers. After having an extra year at the university, he buckled up and graduated with the best result in the school.
Mr. Kogberegbe had proven to the students that he would never entertain foolishness, not even from his own children. As a result, whenever anyone attempted to disregard any lecturer’s hard work policy, the students would remind such fellows of Kogberegbe’s action on his behalf and how well it turned out.
Kogberegbe set a standard that no one could discredit.
The twins were opportuned to follow this standard with the constant reminder given by their father that he never attended school, and neither did his wife sit in any class to receive lectures.
Getting the opportunity to attend the university should be a privilege the children should always be grateful for.
Theirs was never a case of a golden or silver spoon; instead, there was never a spoon available for them to use.
Baba Ibeji knew the children needed constant reminders. Hence, they might get carried away with all the fun in the school. Parents are usually more watchful in this stage of life than they have ever been. This is largely dependent on the fact that this stage appears to be the most crucial, where everything they have struggled to accomplish has the tendency of disappearing with no room for recovery.
If it were permitted, some parents would become roommates with their children on campus just so their children could become the best they have labored for them to be.
