Hello esteemed readers, kindly fasten your seat belt, as I take you on a seamless drive through my NYSC camp experience.
It was the early half of the year 2023, and I had just graduated from the prestigious University of Benin, with the hope of going for my NYSC , unfortunately, I had an accident the previous year, which didn’t seem to heal properly and I had to undergo a surgery just when I was meant to apply for NYSC, this wasn’t a surgery I could undergo and move on with my life, it was one that required me to be on bed rest for months, with just the hope that I would get better, be that as it may , I went through with the surgery and was on bed rest for months, while I was on this bed rest, I had unconsciously adopted the concept of Isolationism, lying hopelessly on my bed every day , I would see the NYSC pictures of my friends, colleagues and acquaintance and I would often ask myself rhetorical questions like , when will it finally be my turn? When will I even get better? As simple as these questions may sound, they were very difficult to answer. Later on, I got suggestions from my friends that I hold in veneration, suggestions that were from a place of love and in total concern for my mental Health. But I declined and I know by now , you must wondering , what suggestions that came out from a place of love did I decline, well, it was for me to apply for NYSC and take an exit in camp, this would allow me to start my service with a particular batch but not to stay in camp and experience the camp life, it wasn’t easy to decline , it took me a great deal of self -introspection to come to that decision.
Months went by, and at the end of the year, I was finally ready for camp, I then applied for my NYSC, and in the week that we would be posted for camp, I travelled to school for my convocation, I really wanted to see my friends, it’s been so long, many were already months into their Service. On the day of my convocation, NYSC posting letter came out and I was posted to Lagos state, Iyana Inaja orientation Camp to be precise ,no offence to my Lagos corps brothers and sisters that camped in Osun and Ogun state. I pretty much prepared myself for anything and everything, I had packed my bag ahead before I travelled for my convocation, Immediately, I called my Dad and told him I would be travelling straight to the camp the following day, and pleaded with him to bring my already packed bag to the NYSC orientation camp for me , it was going to be an exchange , because I had a bag packed for convocation so he would help me take that one back home while I collect the one for camp from him, what a sweet dad right ? Yes I know, any opportunity to make life easy for me, my dad doesn’t second guess, I just say the word and it’s done!
I had a smooth journey to Lagos from Benin, and finally, I was at the camp, you can imagine how I felt, it was a dream come through, I remember , smiling at the officials at the gate while they were checking my vitals, unknown to me the shege I was about to me face, although I believe I came prepared, I was scared at first that the rate at which I was excited might push my blood pressure up, and if it does, I would be denied access into the camp, so I comported my self , with a straight face and I drank a bottle of water to calm my nerves. Before i proceed, i would like to bring to your consciousness that this is an unfiltered account of my NYSC Experience.
I was cleared and on my way to the hostel, I was asked to pick up a gala and a drink, this was an initiative I believe was to welcome us into the camp, well, I am not a fan of carbonated drinks , so I took only gala, started the hotel registration and all, then I met a very decent, sweet, kind and welcoming young girl, who later happened to be my bunkmate, we just clicked at the first instance , I remember telling her my name in case they call me to collect my file, I needed to go get a power bank as my phone was already getting low, she memorized it instantly , and when I came back she had gotten Into trouble of forgetting her own name when it was called, while she remembered mine and helped me collect my file, I stood there and helped her beg before the lady finally released her file, we proceeded to the hostel portal together, we were assigned to the same room, I got in before her and immediately picked a bunk for the both of us.
Immediately, I headed straight to my platoon to get my stay-in-camp kit and to my utmost surprise, I was given a khaki trouser that was so big, as if I had finished complaining about that , I opened the jacket and behold it swallowed me up , you may think I am exaggerating, unfortunately it is the plain truth, I was exasperated , I could swear that I put my exact size on the form when I applied, I took a look around and saw that I wasn’t the only one in that situation and unconsciously I shook my head ruefully, in-fact it will interest you to know that I had a better package than most persons, because at least by mere luck the shoes I was given were my perfect size, some other people had everything wrong and were desperately looking for who to exchange with. If I am to be truthful, this was a service failure that didn’t need an announcement , but I was told , not getting the correct kit was an opportunity to familiarize with other corps members and that its not only Lagos that has the situation, it was a general thing, well, I am not well acquainted with the NYSC Procedure , so I cannot really comment on that part of the service failure.
Now, this is where the story really begins, I hope the road so far to this point has been really smooth for you, while I indulge you into a more interesting path.
The first night, I went out to get food with some of my new roommates turned friends and my Bunky like I call her, her name is Esther for the records, but for the purpose of this writing, I will identify her as Bunky, we got back, ate and it was night out, Oh! How did I forget that we watched a documentary on the Experience and life of corps members who took their NYSC serious and are doing well , most of whom settled down in the state they served, even though they travelled from far to serve there, there was an instance of a man who originally originates from Ondo but was posted to serve in Benue 10 years ago, after service , he naturalized there, built an Information Technology school and has created his family there , I could deduce from that documentary ,that it was a call to awaken our consciousness to the fact that the opportunities may be limited but they certainly exist, and it is very imperative that we distinguish ourselves from others even after camp. After the documentary we all went inside our hostel rooms and it was night out for everybody.
The next day, my platoon was on duty, it was on a Sunday and I had to wake up by 4am in-order to assist with the task assigned to me, one thing I promised myself to do before I went to camp was to participate in all activities, or at least as much as my strength can carry me. So enthusiastically, I went straight to the parade ground and was assigned to do sanitation, I carried out my duty diligently in the morning, but for the afternoon section, while I went for my lunch, I slept off, unknowingly to me, they had shared the tags which was collected from me in the morning, with an agreement that when I finish my task for the day, it will be given to me. Gentlemen and ladies, this was the beginning of my wahala, as I was punished, to join the platoon on duty the next day to work before my tag would be released to me , I was in a state of incredulity and I felt the need to immediately advocate against it, but I just decided to accept my fate, I remember telling the woman ‘’ Thank you ma, I will join them tomorrow morning ‘’ She looked at me , and I could tell she wasn’t expecting that reaction, it was more like you beat a child, expecting the child to cry , instead the child keeps quiet and acts like the pain wasn’t felt. That same day, I joined the Safety and risk reduction committee on camp, I was given a vest and we were inaugurated Immediately. We had another documentary session and it was night out!
I had barely slept for 3 hours, when I heard sounds in my sleep, people were moving about, I flippantly checked my phone for the time, and saw it was 2;30am in the morning, behold some girls were already going to have their bath, I was perplexed at the fact that bathing at that time meant they had bathed for the day, I took a deep breath and ensconced myself on my bed, then I slept back and woke up by 4am, got ready and went out to the parade ground, one very stressful thing about the morning exercise for me was having to stand while the O.B.S team read out the news, and when I even try to sit on the floor, the soldiers and the man O War team would shout Abi scream , Stand up, ah, it was like, what did I even get myself into by coming for this camp, well , just like our camp director would tell us whenever we were all tired, she would echo the question, ‘’ gentlemen corps members , are you tired’’ and we would answer in unity ‘’No Option’’ so Yes, there was really no option, after all, I was the one who wanted to stay.
When I had a conversation with my friends and said I declined their suggestions after a deep self- introspection, my reasons were because I wanted to participate to the best of my ability in the carefully and constructively planned rigorous trainings, I wanted to without any form of limitation explore my full potentials in camp, so yes I am that girl that knows what she wants and will do everything in her power to get it. Back to reality, the morning training started and at some point , I had to join the platoon on duty to work, this was to serve my punishment from the previous day and I enthusiastically carried out my duty for the day and was later given my tag, I would periodically visit the meal time-table on my phone to see what meal will be shared, and if it’s something I like eat, I am always early to the queue because my food breaks were not only used for food, I had activities such as rehearsals and meetings clinging into those period, after the first week , I got used to the time-table because it was repeated for the next 2 weeks, and yes the camp was scheduled for 3 weeks. My favorite meal is the Sunday jollof-rice and chicken, ah, no exaggerations intended but the queue on Sundays shows how much Nigerians love jollof-rice. Something quite tragic happened to me which I believe may resonate with a lot of my esteemed readers, apparently, I couldn’t use the toilet for at least 5 days while in camp, I complained bitterly to some of my friends and I was told maybe its because of change of environment, looking at the situations, I immediately stopped eating solid foods, I stated eating fruits for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I would regularly go and buy them, and within 2 days of eating various fruits only, I was able to use the toilet, after that first encounter , I felt like someone who has been brought back to life, and that was the breakthrough I needed because up till I left the camp, I was able to use the toilet every day and I had gone back to eating solid food. The trainings are not for the faint hearted neither is it for people eating fruits , getting exhausted is a normal thing, either from the SAED lectures or the trainings or the rehearsals, I was once told in camp ‘’ we will tell you when to eat, when to bath, when to sleep, when to have fun’’ as funny as it may sound , it is true , we had a manual that practically rendered me optionless, hence I use my meal time to do any extra curriculum activity I engage in, was it stressful? Yes, but was it worth it? Absolutely.
It was finally the day of my swearing in and in anticipation, I had gone to slim fit the kit that was given to me, and gave a proper laundry touch to it, I felt exuberant to finally not be called ‘’intending corps member’’ and now being called a corps member , after the ceremony I took a lot of pictures and immediately sent to my family and my comrades or ‘’My structure’’ like I like to call them, sending them the pictures before posting it myself was a way of expressing my deep felt gratitude to them for their love and support during my challenging times and also a confirmation that delay is not denial. After the ceremony I decided to take a break to relax my body, others would recount that they did not sleep a wink through-out the camp, an exaggeration of-course, but nonetheless, sleeplessness was endemic. Every day while getting ready for SAED lectures, myself and my Bunky would chat with my camera on, she would usually ask me to help her do edges, I was on a very clean braid at the time, so doing edges was a routine work for me, which extended to my Bunky, I would do mine and hers while we talked about life in camp, it was our own way of spending quality time with each other because we were in different platoons.
It was 1 week already in camp, and my most important accomplishment had been surviving till the day 7, I say this because many people had gone back home, allow me to put emphasis on the fact that the trainings were not easy, but I attended a federal University, so please tell me what I will go through in camp, that I didn’t go through in the university? Exactly, Nothing. I am well known for always sitting at the front roll of my platoon, and if there was anybody that would befriend me, it would be somebody who is taking the NYSC camp as serious as I was taking it, I had front seat partners, Moji, Ayanfeoluwa and Muna.
A Fun-fact and life surviving skill; make friends with people who share the same frame of reference as you. (It will save you the stress of having to explain yourself) I say this because I didn’t have to explain why I was so serious with the NYSC camp, as I surrounded myself with serious people.
When I get into a new environment , I take my time to observe the people who will eventually be in my circle, it is not pride in any way or being proud, it is simply knowing you cannot be everything to everyone and you rather be friends with people who wouldn’t make you feel less of yourself, people that will understand and supports you, a lot of people try to fit into friendships and for me, I have zero tolerance for faking friendship, so I identified these set of girls and we clicked, we would always keep chairs for each other but the funny thing is we were all so serious that we were always able to grab a chair for ourselves, a lot of people tagged the lectures boring and would always not want to sit at the front, so we didn’t have an issue with our front space , we were like the landlords of the first rows during lectures but the same didn’t happen for social activities , it was a struggle to get a seat at the front during social night activities , people literally struggled for the front seat and that brought me to the realization of the fact that, a lot of people were really interested in the fun than in the trainings, forgive me, without any intention of sounding like a perfectionist, but this is where a lot of people miss it, well, I am not immune to having fun too so, I always had my seat at the front as well, I was pretty much organized, if there was anything I learnt very well in camp, it is Time management, I guided and used my time judiciously. For sports, I joined volley ball and table tennis, I had never played them before, I was indeed here for the experience, trying new things and most importantly learning, this range of new activities further put a stress to my food breaks, as I had to train within the same time meant for my food, I ate less, slept less and worked more, but I enjoyed every bit of the sports and gave it the best of me. I made quite a number of friends from the various sports I engaged in, many that I hold dear till date. It is true that Leadership is built on the fountain of experience, and sometimes you don’t need to tell anyone u have a track record, but when you are in a space with people and u display leadership skills , people are able to identify that you are different, this was what happened to me , during the football march between the NYSC OFFICIALS and the CORPS MEMBERS, I was grouped with a team of girls and immediately I brought out a sheet of paper, organized the writing of the names according to the platoon, making sure there was no conflict, I was doing this not knowing the NYSC SPORTS DIRECTOR was taking note , immediately he took the paper from me as I wrote my name last even though I was in platoon 2 and should have written second, he pointed to me and said I appoint you as the coach of the team playing against the NYSC OFFICIAL, I was still in shock when everyone turned to me and said congratulations coach. I thanked them and encourage them to put in their best for the match, it was scheduled in about an hour time and immediately the match started, I had a lot of directing to do as the coach, and when we won, everybody was so happy, they hugged me, laughed and said coach you didn’t play at all again, and I responded ‘’ you guys played on my behalf and brought us victory, this is more than enough for me ‘’ and we all parted ways into the hostel to get ready for the next activity.
There was an issue that starting becoming a challenge and really needed to be addressed, I am of-course an early comer to all of the activities in camp, and during the social nights, I would typically see a girl come and say I am taking these 7 seats , best case scenario , she puts her waist purse , water bottle , handkerchief, pen, and anything you can think of to secure the chairs, while she is seated on one, the very first day, I watched as the event unfolded, seeing that people came out on time and couldn’t get a seat just because some group of misguided graduates decides to be foolishly smart, In subsequent days, I would encourage the girls to not keep up to 6 chairs and most importantly encourage their roommates/friends to come out on time, I understand the whole idea of sitting with your friends , it’s fun watching entertaining performance. I have roommates and friends too and they know me very well, if I keep a sit for them, within 10 minutes they are out and that’s before the Beegle sounds, yes, I subscribe to what I preach.
One faithful day, I had come out as early as I always did and I just saw one girl immediately declaring 4 front row seats to herself, immediately I sat down on one, and then she said sorry somebody is here, and I asked who please? She said her friends, and I asked where are they? She said they will come out soon, they are eating in the room, I looked at her, looked at my food in my hand that I choose to eat outside just so I am able to get a front row seat, I simply told her I cannot stand up from here for any reason and if she thinks I have committed an offence, she should freely go and report me to the NYSC disciplinary committee or to the soldiers. Any one she deems fit, immediately I finished with my reply, I could see the defeated look on her face, in addition, when other people came out as well, with their foods in their hand or without any food, and wanted to sit down, I told them nobody is sitting there, they can sit, if they want to, the girl couldn’t hide her disgust, but who cares, nobody should reward unreasonability with sympathy. The girls that sat down looked at me and said thank you, we encounter these problem almost every night but we are unable to really speak out, and we don’t want wahala , I just laughed and said ‘’ Right from the days of john the Baptist, the Kingdom of God suffereth Violence and only the Violent ones taketh it by force’’ . One fun fact about me is that I always know when to negotiate and when not to , this is also a life surviving skill!. After the social activity, we all retired to our hostels and it was night out, it will be very important to say that from that very night I was looked upon by many as a very rational person and one who practices what she preaches.
The days that followed, I was free from any sort of punishment and went on with the morning exercise, one thing I really enjoyed about our morning exercise was the man o war drills, it was a mixture of pain and fun, the music from the man O war team was always soothing, I would shake and shake my body , until I drain myself of the little strength I had gathered from my 3 hours of night sleep, perhaps it was a coping mechanism for me or maybe it was just an interesting exercise , after the exercise , I went for breakfast break and instead I went in and slept, I got to appreciate 1 hour of sleep, I cherished every opportunity I got to sleep, I am not a breakfast person , so I didn’t have an issue with using my breakfast time to sleep, the only problem I realized after hunger almost sent me to the next world was that once I didn’t eat my breakfast, the next opportunity I get to eat is by 2pm ,and that’s the lunch break and after the series of SAED lectures, this was not convenient for me , so I looked for an alternative breakfast which later made me eat banana and groundnuts a lot. I would buy it during the breakfast break and eat it during the lecture.
As usual, I would take my seat at the front row and listen attentively, I would ask relative questions whenever I needed clarity on a particular topic that was treated, many of these questions, I would get a unanimous applaud from the crowd, it was as though, I had just asked a question that was on their minds and I was careful to only ask important questions because I know how much everyone was exhausted from the stress of the stretch of classes, this made me became famous in camp, mind you, I didn’t hold any official post, but I functioned as though I did , this brings me to the reality of a very dear quote from my role model NELSON MANDELA ‘’ You don’t lead by your position, rather you lead by the strength of your idea’’. This statement proved to be very true in all ramification, as my ideas and how I executed them distinguished me in every area of activities during these 21 days experience. By the way, I am an unapologetic picky eater!
I find it very difficult to eat food anywhere and anyhow, hence I was on a restricted diet and repeated a certain type of food for the entire duration of my stay, one day I decided to try the fruit parfait from the camp market, I regretted ever thinking about it and most importantly, buying it with my money, you just guessed right! It was a total wack! I sticked to fruits, rice from a certain canteen, yam and potatoes from a certain canteen and jollof rice on Sundays from the NYSC kitchen.
That faithful day, I got the news of the inter platoon debate competition, and immediately, I signed up for it, started writing my draft, after vetting from the platoon excos , I was given a go-ahead to be the second speaker and I carefully marshalled out my points, and when the day to present it came, I confidently communicated my points , getting the attention of my audience and a round of applause at the end of my debate, I was later sent a copy of my certificate of participation which I added to my bag of certificates. As the days went by, it had rotated to my platoon duty day and I took the duty of addressing the 3,000 plus corps members on the theme ‘’ HONESTY’’, there is something about the way I articulate words, it commands silence and attention . When I finished my presentation, the NYSC camp director called me and said ‘’ you are a very vocal young lady, I love your presentation’’ immediately I smiled because I wasn’t expecting a compliment and more importantly, I wasn’t expecting it from her, but I was happy that she found my presentation appealing and she was able to deduce that I wasn’t new to public-speaking.
I was just hopeful for the remaining days to come with the mind of a conqueror, I was determined to face it however be it. I am a very quiet, humble, affable, courteous and reserved young lady, and if there is one thing, I hate the most in my entire life, it is oppression of any form and to anybody. The second week started with a lot of problems, oppression and injustice, which I witnessed firsthand, starting from the lady who unlawfully collected my state tag for the most unreasonable reason on earth, it all started when she brought one of the facilitators of the physical SAED trainings to the canopy I was seated, we had been given a direct instruction from the state coordinator to remain seated until the lectures were over before moving to the various available SAED trainings ,as usual , I was seated in the row roll listening to the very insightful lecture when this fair fed lady, came up to the first row and started shouting, are u guys here for Bead making training? Seeing how nobody responded , I answered her, NO Ma, we are only here for the lecture , after which we will leave the canopy, particularly for me , I didn’t enroll in any SAED training, I don’t believe I can learn a skill in 2 weeks, hence I didn’t even bother wasting my limited resources registering or my precious time, so what I would usually do, is use my time to rehearse volleyball or table tennis, now back to the fair fed lady, she wasn’t satisfied with the response I gave her and immediately she started spouting, I was conscious of the fact that these officials were to be treated with a mixture of fear and respect so, I remained placid whiled she was spouting, immediately she said once the lecture is over , I don’t want to see anybody here that’s not for bead making, and I replied her again , Yes ma, that was your initial instruction, in retrospect, I wouldn’t have replied her again because that was what caused my tag to be seized and I didn’t get my tag back until 5 days later, after she collected my tag, she was hoping I would come and apologize to her, personally I espouse the principle of apologizing when I commit an offence, in-fact I am well known for taking responsibility for my actions, so when she wanted me to apologize to her just so she can feed her ego, I instead chose to do the punishment of sanitation, if you ask her what I did, she probably would say I was disrespectful, but if u ask her to explain how I disrespected her, she would instantly go mute, she took my tag to the disciplinary committee as I had believed and immediately the next morning, I took myself there and asked to be allocated a duty so I can be cleared to collect my tag, little did I know that this fair fed lady had converted my tag to her personal belonging an offence, I believe it is, since the property of the NYSC shouldn’t be in the possession of an individual , I believe that was why the various committee was set up, after carrying out the punishment , I was given a clearance paper, and when I got there, they couldn’t find my tag among the list of seized tags they had with them , so I just went away with my clearance paper, waiting to see how long this fair fed lady will hold unto the property of the NYSC, few days before I left camp, I went back there, showed them my clearance paper and behold she had returned it to the disciplinary committee, that was how I collected my tag and went my way.
There are some people not worth negotiating with, people like this fair fed lady are one of them, because they know exactly what they are doing and any attempt to negotiate with them feeds their ego, I am unfortunately not a people pleaser and not in any way supercilious, I believe people should be accorded due respect, and that respect is reciprocal. I remember the people in the canopy saying if its to take the matter to camp court, we will all appear and bear u witness to what happened today, but I realized that having a camp court situation with the activities I was involved in will not be helpful, it will only be time consuming and unproductive. I am glad I resolved it the way I did. The one thing I feared the most finally happened to me, I fell sick, it started first as dry air, I felt I wasn’t getting good oxygen, more like , I wasn’t breathing well so I had to go to the sick bay to get some medicines, after 2 days of complying with the medications , I got better, regained my health and continued with my activities. Fast forward to the carnival day, a lot of competitions took place at the same time, I got to ride a horse for the very first time in my life, it was such a wonderful experience, we were given food and drink and I watched a lot of creative performances from the various platoons, I was so happy to see the various cultural display and I must highly commend the creativity of Nigerian Youths , because in so little time, the various performers were able to come up with excellent performances, I kid you not when I say that the YOUTHS of this country are exceptionally talented and creative. As we rounded up the camp we had the mr and miss NYSC pageantry contest, it was a display of finesse and a combination of beauty and brains, a lot of celebrity came under a platform to party with us, I think that’s one of the interesting things about Lagos camp, the fun and availability of brands supports, After Lagos na Lagos, I had an amazing time and in retrospect , I don’t regret declining that very thoughtful advice to exit camp, in-fact the ability of my mind to not vacilitate at that point in time, that vulnerable time is a miracle I thank God for every day of my life.
I became an advocate for change in camp, I adopted the sanitation principle , maybe this was because I have gone through a lot of punishment or maybe because I am a change maker and an advocate for responsible citizenship , I helped to enforce some of the rules and regulation that guided our activities, charity begins at home they say, so I started from my room down to my hostel floor, I would kindly caution anyone I see polluting the environment, this happened in various forms, there was a particular incident that made me understand that some people choose to be ignorant and would rather wallow in ignorance than do the right thing, this was just meant to be a simple case of correcting a girl against a particular hazardous practice and as soon as I did , she arrogantly replied me ‘’ That’s how everyone has been doing it’’ I was astonished at the guts in form of words that came out from her mouth, as unbelievable as it may sound, she said that unapologetically and I decided to go to the appropriate channel, I left her and marked her face, like I had said earlier , there will always be time to negotiate and a time when not to , I went straight to the sanitation and disciplinary committee , reported her and she was picked up, just as she was seated under her canopy which was a canopy away from mine, she was immediately directed to do sanitation and her tag was seized, I didn’t feel sorry for her at all, in the course of life, people will have to learn and sometimes they have to learn the hard way. I also didn’t see it as a terrible thing to happen to an individual , after all, I have been there, although not for the same offence, but then, I saw it as a period where she would take a deep self -introspection and ask her self if it was really worth it at the end of the day, the fact that others are doing the wrong thing, doesn’t make the wrong thing right and most importantly, doesn’t automatically gives you the right to do the same wrong time, multiple wrongs don’t make a right , one thing that really strikes me about the situation was that , this person is a graduate, spent time and resources in school only to come out with such poor mentality and unwillingness to learn, if u ask me I will confidently tell you she may have gone to school but education didn’t take place. If there’s anything that anyone of us should put into consideration, it should be the fact that we are the inhabitants of that environment and if we mess it up, we got nowhere else to go, we expose ourself to very harmful and infectious diseases. It is our collective responsibility that will guarantee the sustainability of our environment during this 21-day experience, this and many more were the crystal-clear orientation I had about our environment that guided my path as an environmental activist in camp, and just to state, I wasn’t a member of the sanitation committee, you don’t need a position to advocate or proselytize a policy, all you need is a clear orientation of the policy and you are good to go.
The last day, after the closing ceremony, I got my posting letter with excitement and just as I had prayed for, I was posted to serve in an NGO, a place where I can fully explore my potentials, an organization where I can learn, unlearn and relearn, I waited to wish all my roommates turned friends a Farwell because this is the part where we all go our separate ways while holding on to the memories we had created in these past few weeks, I left camp immediately and went straight to my mother’s shop, in the course of this writing, I have duly focused on me , but some stories cannot be completely said or written without mentioning the people whose contribution has helped shaped your life, my mother is my world, my confidant and my best friend, every day I am grateful to God for the gift of her, well, l went straight to her shop entirely kitted up, I knelt down to hug her when unconsciously I started crying, I didn’t say a word , I just hugged her and cried, my mother held me tight and kept screaming Thank you Jesus. It would be very kind of me to note here that at some point in my life, my mother is the reason I went to school and got educated.
As I come to the end of sharing my uncluttered experience of my NYSC camp with you my esteemed reader, I want to take a moment to kindly reflect on all that has formed me, guided and directed me towards the path I am currently threading on, I am deeply grateful to God for the biggest asset I have in form of my MIND, the ability to be decisive brought me this far. Thank you for reading, I hope you are able to learn a thing or 2 from this and possibly amplify it in your life.
All works should be open to critic and mine is not an exception, you can drop your comments in the comment box, Thank you.
Awesome thoughts here, Victoria
As a fellow platoon member, I can confirm that you thoroughly applied yourself to the 21 day training.
Cheers!
Thank you very much Abiola, you were very instrumental to my successful participation as well, and thank you so much
for taking your time to read.
I legit had my eyes glued to the screen as I read and got clarity on the NYSC experience, thank you very much for sharing, it was worth every minute of my time.
Pheww! Now I think I’m a bit nervous, but maintaining the giddiness. Well like we all say, “experience is the realest teacher. “
Thank you so much for reading and yes, prepare your self emotionally and financially but most importantly prepare yourself mentally. Trust me, nothing good comes easy.
wishing you all the best!.
In as much as it’s a long read, I enjoyed every bit of it nwanne. You write so beautifully and I love it, I stayed indoors throughout my stay in the orientation camp and far away from any activities but now I’m jealous ☺️proud of you Victoria nwanne
Thank you so much omore, i am glad you enjoyed this piece, thank you also for your kind and thoutful compliments.
Wow, what an incredible read! Your writeup flowed seamlessly, and I could vividly imagine everything you described. It felt as though I was right there with you during your camp journey, experiencing it all firsthand and relating well to it as a fellow Corper.
And to add, I didn’t just pick one or two things from your piece, I picked up a whole lot! Your self-esteem shines through, and it’s truly inspiring. As the saying goes, “Believe you can and you are halfway there.”
Keep up the fantastic work and continue being a beacon of light, my Clerk! 🌟
I feel so teary right now, thank you so much valery, my deputy clerk for your carefully constructed comment. I appreciate you for taking your time to read and more importantly taking a whole lot from this piece, that is the ultimate goal of this piece. Love always.
This is a really amazing write up… this is one thing I really which I’m good at. Keep it up. By the way I’m currently a Lagos corper batch 23C…. I relate to every thing you just discussed about most importantly the act of Leadership.
Warm Regards,
Thank you so much for your kind words, the ultimate goal is to tell the story and to tell it very well.
It worth reading
Best give camp gave me
I call her Vicky love😍
Blessed are you among women
hahaha, Telemi, thank you so much for your constant support, from camp to the same LGA ,
This is sooo good. Now I really can’t wait to go to camp. I’m really inspired by this. I need to graduate fast oo😅. Congratulations 🤗
I felt the same way and fast forward today, i dont regret ever feeling that way, thank you so much precious for taking out time to read into light, i am grateful.
Too detailed,bringing back memories😁.
It was a nice read, loved everybit of it…You really did enjoyed camp.
Thank you very much Esther, the Bunky in my story , i am happy you loved every bit of it.
I patiently waiting took my time to read this, what a beautiful write up! You really enjoyed every bit of your time spent in camp, and I must say one thing I learnt from you right at camp, was to make the most out of everything you do, whether stressful or not, just have fun while doing it, I didn’t apply it in camp because I’m the lazy type, but these past few months, I’ve been applying it, just letting you know, that you’ve influenced my lifestyle without you knowing, and how can I forget how sweet and jovial you are, I’m happy knowing someone like you, keep impacting lives with the little ways you can. You are definitely going to higher places
Thank you so much TiFfeh for taking your time to read, conversely you are just as jovial and kind as i am , i remember surviving on your provision one faithful day, haha, so many memories, Thank you for the warm compliments, see you at the top my dear friend.
This is an amazing article, well done Vickie.. I must say that spending 21days with you in camp (Room7) was interesting and I want to tell you that the sky is your starting point..
Congratulations on all your winnings boo.
Chika my love, thank you for taking your time to read and comment and most importantly , thank you for being such a wonderful roomate and friend, love you xoxo
This is good, I am not a big fan of reading long write ups, because I have the intention of taking this NYSC camp seriously, I had to read it till the end, this is a good read!
Thank you so much Mr. Speaker, i am glad to know you took out time to read to the end. wishing you all the best in your NYSC journey, make the absolute best of it…..
It was a beautiful read I must say. I love how you succinctly articulate your thoughts and I am excited when others share their stories because that is how the next generation is shaped for the better.
And I also look forward to maximizing my experience as well and taking full responsibility in leadership roles considering the Nelson Mandela’s quote you shared. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Thank you very much steph, i am glad you enjoyed this piece, and yes please do maximize your time and get the most out of it. Thank you for reading
Nice one mama ❤️❤️❤️💙💙
Thank you so much for reading.
What a great write up…I love your use of words,like everything was just flowing and you made it in a way that seems whoever wasn’t in camp is already having that”nysc orientation camp experience first hand lol”namesake thank you for taking your time to share I must confess I learnt a whole lot.Talking about telling or making people see reasons to do the right things omo I don’t have that energy,you were patience and was very observant,you’ve really done well,keep being who you are,you’ve really really inspired me and I wished we crossed path in camp …God bless you real good dearie
#gogirl💝
#girlpower💪
#copergirl👢
Thank you so much dear, i am glad to know you enjoyed every bit of this piece, thank you so much for your kind words, they are the foundation upon which i draw my strength to do the good work.
Well done Vicky, this is a good article, I saw all your hard work at camp,I must commend your effort, well done girl. May God reward you with success, keep being you.
Thank you so much girl
This is so nice, felt like I was going through the entire Journey with you..I really hope I get to enjoy myself and make the most out of it here as well
Thank you so much destiny, glad to know you enjoyed this piece.
An amazing piece , I felt like I experienced every single moment with you. I must acknowledge your ability to skillfully weave words in a way that sustains the interest of readers.
I must also salute your outstanding level of grit and resilience, knowing how you pulled through inspite of the odds stacked against you.
I also admire your love for doing things the right way.