I have in so many ways craved freedom while growing up with my grandma. I lived with her for years before I finally had the opportunity to step out of the home to live on my own without her over-protectiveness. The feeling was as if I can breathe well again 🤩
Those days before I left home, I had listened to my friends in high school then, discuss about attending birthday parties and other fun engagements and I will always feel bad. I had some thought of changing my parents 🤦, at least let me have this 1% of freedom of attending social activities. Some discussions I hear from my friends sometimes made me believe that I was in the total darkness of happenings around me. It was all about school, church, home, and nothing more. I had zero social life because my grandma will always monitor my movement. If I return from school 10 minutes late, I must answer a query that night. I envied my friends and wished for me to exchange with their parents so I can be allowed for some stuff, unlike my parents who would cage me in the name of nurturing a decent girl child. Even when I was given a phone while waiting for my admission, grandma will always monitor to be sure that no guy call me on the phone🤩 and if she hear a guy's voice, she would seize the phone for one week and then give me a sermon before releasing the phone. It was just too much that I couldn't get the freedom I craved for while growing up.
I know my parents meant well for me, the love, care, and guidance were much but I needed that little freedom at least to take some responsibilities. So finally the long-awaited admission came and that was my first time staying away from home. Trust me, I left home so excited without any single plan of coming home for weekends until the end of a session even when the university was just a 2hour distance 🤩 from home.
On getting to the university, it was not an easy peasy stuff to be alone and take care of myself as I envisioned but then, I was on the quest for freedom and so I found my way ...lolz. My first freedom started with my amiable roommates in the school hostel. Even though I wasn't alone in the room but non of my roommates have the authority to control me like my grandma instead we mingled and shared ideas while exploring our new environment. I got exposed to so many things that I needed to grow in life through my friends.
My first social engagement started back then in the university, even though I had my freedom without any monitoring, I was so conscious of the way I lived my life. The little time I was tempted to go astray 🤦, it was as if the shadow of my grandma was right before me 🤩🤩 her continual words of advice clouded my mind and I retraced my steps immediately.
In conclusion, stepping out of my home thought me to take responsibility and I couldn't avoid it in so many instances which include my decision-making, independence - making little money through ideas gotten from friends, and so on. Also, I was able to socialize with the opposite sex and get to know my now husband better before I said yes. For the rest stories, you know it 🤩🤩🤗
This is my entry to the #hivelearners community contest week 21 edition 3 topic titled Away from Home.