I have been called a lot of things especially in secondary school. Mostly the negative ones like big head,block head, over sabi or sabi sabi (a common name for a nerd in Nigeria) none of which is my real name. This was to the extent that most of my classmates could not recall or refer to me by my name (you’ll find out the main reason soon). If anyone yells “BLOCKHEAD!” probably from a moving vehicle, I know that it is a former classsmate.
Meet Me... Who am I?
My name is Ariemurunor Oghenekevwe Julius. I definitely expect your eyes to skip to the Julius and never bother pronouncing the first two. If you attempt to pronounce them you won’t get any price as I am certain that it will not sound well with you. It is funny to mention that when I meet someone again after the first time, he or she would very well say "Hey, you there with the long name" and that has always been the clue that they really can’t recall my name and also that they can swear that it’s a sentence I’ve got for a name.
I hated the name because it is lengthy, but that’s not the case now since I found out that there are very few humans alive bearing that surname (my family members) and I am the only person bearing my name-search for my name on google you'll find out yourself. I am a Nigerian. My surname Ariemurunor in Urhobo language means "A very meticulous and diligent person" while Oghenekevwe also Urhobo means "I was given by God" (the “I” there is implying my mum). She was the most grateful to God when I was born as she told me. Maybe my dad was too busy goofing off at work.
Being a Nigerian automatically means I have the burden to prove to anyone else who is not Nigerian that I am a good person. By default, people expect the worse from us and I really can’t blame them for it considering that there are facts to believe so. But this is not to say that there aren’t good and exceptional Nigerians as well because proofs also exist for this. Just liken my country to one big sweetened and fruity cake still in the oven but with too many big nuts. You get the idea.
My Educational Background
I have gone through teacher training college at the Delta State College of Education, Mosogar, and University at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE). Both institutions are in Nigeria. I majored in Mathematics/Physics Education in college while I studied Marine Engineering at the University. It was more blissful in college for me so much more than in the university for many reasons that I will briefly highlight. In college, we were always encouraged to write extensively in whatever assignment or assessment given which gave room for creativity and originality of thoughts and expression. It wasn’t hard at the time to see that the university prioritized memorization and replication higher than other cognitive traits of learning. The practicals in the university were pointless and unnecessary as I could't see how they were connected to the industry that I will be working in. You are definitely not getting extra scores for extensive writing in tests and exams.
So for now I am a Teacher, writer, engineer, craftsman,fitness freak and still very much a student. I believe that I will remain a student for a long time, not in the sense that I will not want to graduate from school but that I will be a learner for as long as I live. This is just as the saying in the movie ”Odyssey” goes “there is always something to learn”.
My Skills and Hobbies
Aside the academic part of engineering, I am practically skilled in the maintenance and servicing of marine diesel engines and auxiliary systems. I love listening to music, reading, cooking, writing, painting, and woodwork. My love for music and craft led to the design and construction of a subwoofer speaker about five years ago. I tested it before finishing the painting and boy it sounded good. I connected and hid it beside the couch where it gave a really deep background rumble. Boy, you could tell the surprise on the faces of some of my guests when I played music. They often would wonder if it was the small subwoofer(a purchased mini subwoofer) beside the shelf that was making the huge sound.
I have also done several paint jobs mimicking the designs that I've seen on YouTube. On reading, my all-time favorite books are My Bible and Steven Covey’s, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. I am not so good in cooking neither do I cook badly. If I were a terrible cook I’ll sure never have the chance to cook again for my family and my jerk friends will laugh me to scorn.I have written a few essays and thesis mostly freelancing.
Finding Hive
Just at the point when I was contemplating owning a blog, was when a friend @merit.ahama introduced me to this platform. I did not hesitate to ask her further questions because it seemed at the time very interesting and unbelievable (if I might add). Her testimony demystified my curiosity.
Blogging brought me to Hive. I am still grateful to her for speaking to me about it and quite honestly I feel excited to join the Hive community. Anyway, my friends call me Kevwe so you may ignore the sentence (Ariemurunor Oghenekevwe Julius). Thanks for having me!