It’s
been ten years since I left Secondary School… and just like yesterday, I
was that nine year old who was excited about the ‘glorious’ phase of
life… Secondary School! I knew Secondary School was going to be
different as my mother made me study M.O Odiaka relentlessly,
but I didn’t know how far it would stretch me. Talk about uncharted
waters! Soon, I discovered that there were subjects I loved and others, I
didn’t… and sometimes, I even questioned why we bothered with them. The
thing is… we were not encouraged to have negative conversations about
school subjects with our parents. And parents likewise, would rather you
be ‘jack of all trades.’ Thankfully, I was able to distinguish my
strengths from my weaknesses at an early age which has led me to where I
am today.
Mathematics was a subject I
enjoyed overall because it was mentally stimulating, it also didn’t
help that I came from a household were your relationship with
mathematics is ‘a by fire by force something’. Sometimes, I felt like
there were subtle scams in worded mathematical problems. Cue… if Sade
has 10 Coconuts, and Bode gave her 3 apples… How many ‘oranges’ does
Sade have? You know those kind of questions that will have you looking
at the paper like a mad woman. Yes, those ones! I am not a fan of them. I
would rather we solved straight mathematical equations because worded
questions breaches the territory of mathematics, and crosses over to
comprehension which is too much task for my brain to do at once. Maybe
I’m just lazy but you get my drift!
I
was in love with English Language because I had cultivated a
relationship with words in my formative years. The best part of English
Language for me was reading comprehension passages and answering them. I
love stories and I can read fiction till thy kingdom come… for me, it
was second nature. But English like mathematics also had a little comma
which was phonetic transcription. Although, I didn’t suck major at it… I
just didn’t fancy it. I get that it helps with pronunciation, but I
didn’t think it was necessary to speak ‘perfectly’ like British or
American people in Nigeria. This is where my ‘why do we even bother’
mentality kicks in. And oh… did I mention that one of my English
Teachers had an accent? He championed the cause for phonetics in English
classes but it bored me significantly.
Still
speaking about languages, Yoruba was one I struggled consistently with.
Although in my head, I am Minister of Culture ‘20something’ but I am
ashamed to say I cannot read Yoruba please don’t judge and vote for me when its time oh
However, I do understand Yoruba, and I can speak it fluently. It also
didn’t help that my Yoruba teacher would always dictate Yoruba notes and
whenever he decides to write them on the blackboard, he adds those
intonation marks which I still don’t understand till date. My consistent
failure in Yoruba examinations came largely from my inability to read
it. And French? Let’s just say it was one of those waka pass subjects
you read to pass just for ‘passing sake’.
Business
Studies is an interesting one as I vividly remember that I decided to
pursue a medical career in my business studies class. You see, I was in
JSS1 when we were introduced to all these glorious terms like ‘credit’
‘debit’ ‘balance sheet’ ‘ledgers’ e.t.c and I had a surreal moment that
it was simply not my calling. There and then, I made a decision to stick
with Science.
Now Geography, was a
subject that fell blatantly into my ‘why do we even bother’ category
from its onset. I apologise to geographers out there, but geography
BORES me
. All I can remember was how I spent more than half of my geography
lessons sleeping, and how I was struggling to answer those mapping
questions in NECO examination. That examination moment for me was
surreal! You know when they
tell you to pay attention in class but you don’t listen, and then you
start counting the ceiling in examination hall. Yes, that was what
happened! It was indeed a miracle when I discovered that I was
awarded a B in WAEC and a C in NECO. Till date, I have no idea how that
happened. *God must be involved*.
As I
pride myself as a student of life, I had always loved Social Studies
and Arts… and I still do! I think its content should spill over to
Senior Secondary School classes as I missed it terribly in Science
class. Perhaps, there should be an opt-in/opt-out system for such
subjects.
Physical Education for me
was too theoretical. We wrote A LOT of long winded notes which I think
was unnecessary and contradictory to the subject title, ‘physical’. I
had expected it to be more outdoors than indoors and where that could
not be achieved, why do we even bother?
Now,
about the CORE Sciences… I live for Biology! Really, I found biology
very interesting and engaging. I doubt that part of me will ever die.
Chemistry, on the other hand, is one I have a love-hate relationship
with. Although, I was fine with physical chemistry, organic chemistry
involved A LOT of ‘cramming’. Let’s just say I blagged my way through
Organic Chemistry unscathed. And how can I forget Physics? You see, the
problem I had with physics was the same I had with worded mathematical
questions. Plenty Plenty grammar before calculations… *SHAKES MY HEAD*. I wasn’t a fanatic, but I enjoyed the practical classes and the mechanical aspect of Physics (Heat, electricity and motion).
This
is a simplistic narrative of my Secondary School learning experience in
Nigeria. Please note that schools, settings and teachers differ, which
significantly bias one’s opinion of the secondary school learning
experience. There are no right or wrong opinions… feel free to use this
medium as a fun way to relive your secondary school memories. Share the
likes and dislikes about your secondary school subjects, and you can
also include whether you chased your childhood passions, or changed
paths further on in life.
Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Michael Zhang
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