Hello everyone in the wonderful hive blockchain. I hope you are all doing well. Once again, I’m grateful to the hive learners’ community for their amazing initiatives.
The hive learners’ community has again presented us with another amazing topic, I’m so glad to be participating in it.
Leaving your family to be on your own or go to university is not easy. Well, it might’ve been easy for some of you. But for me, it wasn’t easy at all.
We can’t live with our family forever. At one point in our lives, we’ll have to move out of the family home for something important. Most people decide to move out of the family home for different reasons; going to college, desire to live independently, some people move out of their family home for the quest for freedom while some are forced to move out by their parents.
Growing up, I didn’t get many chances to leave the family house. Unlike other kids that roam around the area, playing from house to house, my parents trained me to always stay at home. So, trust me when I say leaving home for the first time was very hard for me. I didn’t know much about the outside world; or the way things worked out of the family home. But three things saved me when I left home for the first time; I was smart and brave, and I didn't get influenced by what people do.
The first time I left home to be on my own
After I graduated from high school, I applied for admission to a federal university. Sadly, I was not admitted. Not because I didn’t do well in the entrance exam or my results were not good. My results were very good, but the Nigerian educational system is just so messed up and corrupt. Even if your results are very good, you might be denied admission simply because you don’t know the VC, or you don’t know any lecturer that could be of help.
I didn’t want to waste my time doing nothing at home and some of my high schoolmates had already gained admission into different universities. So, I decided to enroll in a pre-degree program. Pre-degree is a program set aside to prepare students into any university of their choice.
My parents followed me there and helped me settle down. Initially, I thought the place would be very quiet. But I was wrong, my hostel mates were very loud. I had no choice but to blend in.
I was three months behind schedule. I had a lot of notes to copy. But that wasn’t a problem because I was a very fast writer. I borrowed the notes and within two nights, I was done with them. After a month, my hostel mates and I became really close. We started doing things together; cooking, washing clothes, and we even attended classes together.
Everything went smoothly, not until my hostel mates who claimed to be my friends, started acting wayward. They tried to lead me astray, but thankfully I don't get influenced by bad people. They started missing classes, going to late-night parties, smoking, and doing all sorts of vices. They tried as much as possible to lure me in, but I stayed strong. At the end of the program, I came out with flying colors, while they all failed woefully.
**What did I learn from the experience **
I learned to cook
Source
Before I left for the pre-degree program, the only thing I knew how to cook was noodles. When I was with my parents, I didn’t like the idea of staying in the kitchen with my mom. I thought it wouldn’t be important because it was meant for girls.
But when I got there, I learned my lesson the hard way. I remember the first time I cooked jollof rice. At first, I didn’t know what to do so I checked online and watched a YouTube video on how to cook rice. The YouTube video was very helpful, although I added too much salt to the rice. I had to manage it.
As time went on, I paid close attention to my hostel mates. I really learned a lot from them. After some time, I discovered that cooking is very interesting. The first thing I cooked on my own was beans (without checking any YouTube videos). Although one of my hostel mates supervised me.
Now, I can cook a lot of Nigerian dishes (except all those native soups). I’m really proud of myself.
I learned how to manage my money
Source
Living independently taught me a lot of things, one of them is how to manage my money well. Living alone, you don’t just spend recklessly. You’ll need to figure out how to maintain your expenses while planning for the future.
As a student, you don’t just spend money on expensive things like new shoes, new clothes, or any other secondary (unimportant) things. The first thing I did was to keep some money aside for any unforeseen circumstances. A lecturer might ask you to pay for a handout or pay for a project. You don’t want to be in a tight situation, so it is better if you plan for the future.
Living with my hostel mates also helped reduce my cost of living. Most times, we contribute to cooking and buying things.
I learned how to ask for help
The experience also taught me how to ask for help. Growing up, I wasn’t the shy type. But I had a problem asking people for help. I thought asking people for help was a sign of weakness. But when I got to school, I discovered that I needed people’s help. Lecturers, my classmates, and hostel mates were there to help me all I just had to do was to ask.
I learned the importance of teamwork
Source
Although, my hostel mates changed. They made me realize the importance of teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work. Things became faster and easier when we worked as a team.