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Homework Help: Social Studies: World Issues: The Day I Saw the Sun
by Ekene Umeike
It's not all about books
There is no doubt that education prepares people for life in the real world. Universities and colleges play the vital role of finishing this preparation.
As much as I "love" my school, with all the rubbish that is taken as normal, and the daily frustrations that manage to make life exhausting and learning more difficult than necessary, I cannot deny that there are a lot of interesting things about school life here that I will probably never forget, not because I want to experience them again, but because I owe it to myself to make sure that I never have the pleasure again.
One of the normal things I have come to expect in my one year here is the very special style of power supply to the boys' hostels (which we call Franco republic). Supply is usually very constant, unlike what is obtainable usually across the country, but it is occasionally so high that bulbs burn out quickly (making bulbs the fastest selling commodity around) and ensuring that nothing else powered by electricity can be safely used or so low that candles provide better light. In between these extremes, we are able to enjoy some sanity.
Currently, we are enjoying a fresh experience. The four large hostels of more than a hundred rooms each that make up Franco have been in darkness for some days. The only reasons it is still bearable are that we are still supplied with water, and that this new semester has been so "orderly" and "perfectly" organized that students still have not really started feeling the pressures of being back in school.
What makes this current situation particularly interesting, is that every evening at about six, the street lights behind the hostel come on, and stay on all night providing light for the very lonely roads. The rest of the school is unaffected by this power failure.
No one from the school authourity has felt the urge to show us the little respect of offering us an explanation for what is happening, not to mention an apology.
Fortunately, the condition of things has granted me the opportunity to see a practical manifestation of necessity being the mother of all inventions.
Some boys on the top floor of my hostel (it is a 3 storey structure) managed to somehow drop a wire all the way from their room down to the ground where they traced the power cables supplying the street lights so that every evening their lights come on with the street lights. Unfortunately for me my room is on the other side of the hostel, too far from the road to allow me copy them. Whoever thinks Nigerians are not creative really needs to see the inventive ways people are coming up with to survive in school.
To be fair, the bad condition of almost everything in this school is not entirely the fault of the people running the school. The bulk of the blame must fall on their employers who own the school the Nigerian government many members of which have lovingly sent their children to foreign universities. Another portion of the blame must fall on we the students, who tend to be quite unreasonable even when there is the need and the room for us to be more understanding, besides too many of us fail to show mercy on the collapsing facilities which would at least crumble slower than they are currently.
With all its problems, I still manage at least to a little extent to be proud of my school. The rest of my stay here I hope will make me more fond of my school.
Eventually I know that I would love to be able to stand anywhere in the world as a finished product of the University of Nigeria, fully loaded with my formal training, and with all the experiences that will prepare me for life in a way that even the most acclaimed universities in the world cannot.
Homework Help: Social Studies: World Issues
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