AYOADE Zariat Yetunde writes,
I am an avid believer in the saying, “you are not a product of your circumstances but your choices”. Life on campus will present you with different phases. However, it is left for you to choose what suits you at the expense of what will haunt you in the future. This piece offers a story of a young lady who felt studying at a university relinquishes her the freedom and liberation she could not get from her parents.
When Tade resumed her freshman year at the university, the new adventure excited her as it did her parents. Unfortunately, they didn’t realise she was on her way to doom. Because of her naivety, she found herself in the wrong company. She had always been an indoor girl who barely left the house for anything but church service. Thus, going to the university was for her, a dream come true and an opportunity to explore the world.
In little time, Tade started missing lectures because of accumulated fatigue from parties she attended overnight. As she was not ready to give up her status as the life of every party and disco ball of every club, attending lectures wore her out. Apparently, she had forgotten her purpose at the university in her pursuit of a new life.
At the end of the first semester, she took her exams but didn’t go home for the semester break. Tade’s Mother was one you could call a supportive and attentive parent. She phoned her daughter to inquire if she would return home for the semester break. Tade, on the other hand, had a chain of parties to attend, and she lied that she would stay back and prepare for the second semester. Tade’s Mom, in her quest to support her daughter, sent foodstuffs to her daughter through a motor park. Oftentimes, she would call and speak to Tade’s roommate who, unknown to her, was also a party rocker. However, as she had no doubts about her daughter’s conduct at school, she had every reason to believe everything was going well with Tade.
Few months into Tade’s adventure, she would find out she was pregnant. Perhaps, it was the result of a quickie she had at the club or one of her tipsy sexcapades with her several lovers－she couldn’t tell. Every attempt to abort the pregnancy was to no avail and she was forced to breed a baseborn. Tade had to withdraw from school because she could not be seen with the pregnancy. She feared someone who knew her parents would inform them.
When the second semester ended, Tade’s Mother, who had always been in touch, called to ask her daughter if she would come home, but Tade, in her usual fashion, manipulated her mother into believing she was too busy with school activities and to come home. As Tade had always been a cool and calm girl, her parents didn’t smell a rat. Her parents did their part by providing her needs. Little did they know that their ‘virtuous’ daughter was preparing to welcome a baby.
After nine months, Tade had the baby and resolved to abandon it by the road. A good Samaritan, who had no kids, witnessed the scene. She scooped the baby off the roadside and adopted it. And after more than a year and a half, Tade’s Mother visit her daughter in school. She met her daughter’s program advisor who delivered the shocking news that Tade was no longer a student in the school. The mother broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably as she careened towards her daughter’s residence off the campus. She met her daughter amidst friends, playing music and swinging their delicate hips to the rhythm. Tade was shocked to see her mother in tears and she knew immediately that something was amiss. Her mother ordered her to pack all her belongings and they headed home. Tade kissed her precarious campus life goodbye.
Being a resilient and supportive mother, Tade’s mother asked her daughter what she wanted to do and she declared that she would like to enrol in a fashion school. After a series of conversations with her mother, Tade decided to turn a new leaf and pick up the pieces of her shattered life. She enrolled in a fashion school, and after two years, graduated. She became one of the biggest fashion designers in the industry and everything was going well for her. To her, everybody makes mistakes but can always try again.
Tade’s mother became a proud mom again because her daughter, whom she refused to give up on, was doing very well. She couldn’t have been happier. Tade soon met a hardworking man who was ready to take her as a wife. They began courting and everything went smoothly. Tade’s fiancée soon proposed and they agreed to get married. Being a Fashionista, Tade wanted to have an engagement where all family members would be introduced before celebrating the elaborate wedding. The day of her introduction came and Tade was all dolled with a matrimonial journey in sight. Relatives from far and wide graced the occasion.
And came that moment everyone had been waiting for－time to introduce the bride. Tade, in company of her bridal train trotted gracefully into full glow. A relative of the groom suddenly called wolf, insisting “this cannot be your bride, Biola”. The relatives and guests couldn’t fathom this reaction from the groom's elder sister. However, she reminded him of a young lady who abandoned a baby she rescued and adopted. who was now the groom’s sister’s foster daughter named Priscilla.
Biola, who was still in shock, retorted, saying “what does that have to do with my wife, Tade?” Biola’s sister responded by saying Tade was the young lady she told him about. Everyone present shouted in amusement, and Tade became sober and guilty and ran away from the scene, embarrassed and disgraced. She secluded herself from everyone and everything, crying without anybody to console her. Tade, who thought her past mistakes were dead and buried and moved on with her life as if nothing happened didn’t realise that nemesis would catch up with her. She resolved to end her life and died single.
In our Institution today, there are many Tades, and many are preparing, whether deliberately or unconsciously, to become Tade. This is a reminder that whatever you do today is the foundation for tomorrow. No Action will go without consequences. Many think tertiary institutions are avenues to explore everything they could not do in their parents’ house. This opinion can be of benefit and can also be catastrophic. It is left for us to choose one we’d look back at and be thankful for the decision. Always remember that whatever decision you make, you will reap the consequence!
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