Humans Of UDUS: Treasure's Story

 

Hello great Danfodites, and welcome to another episode of #HumansOfUDUS. I am your host, Uchenna Emelife and this week's humane story was shared by Treasure, a 300L student of Agriculture. Treasure tells of her friend, Susan and her role in her first few days on campus. Read the story below:

L-R: Susan and Treasure

"The news of my admission was met with ambivalence. 'You've successfully being admitted to study Agriculture...' the first part of the message read, and forced open my lips, baring my teeth. For every teen, joining a university was like being told you'd make Heaven. You had endured all of the years of secondary school and was finally becoming part of a higher community. A community where you decided your pace for yourself, had all the time and freedom in the world, at least that's what they told us, even though it was far from the truth, haha. So, yes, I was ecstatic. A dream was coming true.

The second part of the message '...in Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto' however lessened the extent of my lips. Even though I had applied to go to Sokoto myself but for the first time now, it seemed real. I had nothing against Sokoto. Don't get me wrong. But this city is several waters away from home. A distant place where I knew no one. How would I cope? And Sokoto's unpopular sun didn't help.

There was the excitement of being admitted into a university, co-existing with the anxiety of facing a whole new life in a strange land. Resumption date drew near yet the anxiety persisted. 

L-R: Treasure and Susan in 2018

Nigerian parents have this way of getting things done. They make the impossible possible. They always know somebody that knows somebody that knows another body and before you know it, that thing you thought couldn't be resolved, is not just resolved but improved at the same time. One afternoon, my very Nigerian uncle informed me that they had found a contact to guide me in Sokoto. A girl whose parents attend the same church as mine. Her name was Susan. I got Susan's contact from him and reached out to her. I told her when I intended to arrive and she counseled me on when it was best to resume.

When I arrived Sokoto and struggled to find my way to the campus, Susan who was already a student of UDUS, was kind enough to escort me. You know those funny jamnbito stories where new students knocked at the wrong offices or asked for direction from the wrong persons, I didn't get to experience them as a result of Susan. She would see me off to the hall and back to the cafe, and even those times when the process became unnecessarily sophisticated and requiring too many visits to MIS, Student Affairs, Auditorium, Minimart, Cafe, Susan would go all that length with me.

L-R: Susan and Treasure

What stood out for me about these gestures was that I never asked her to do any of these. Susan was only supposed to be a guide. Just tell me what to do and let me do it. But she chose to hold my hand instead and lead me all through it. All of the fears I had, the anxieties that I would feel out of place, the scares, the hesitations squashed in the warm embraces of this stranger who in a matter of days had become a sister.

The last of my campus days is fast approaching. I look back now on this journey and the most defining are those first few days shared with Susan. This girl I had just met but treated me like she had known me all her life. Because of Susan, it seemed as though UDUS took me into her arms as soon as I walked in and buried me in a hug. Thank you, Susan for being that kind. You have no idea just how much impact that had on me."

What were your first days on campus like? Did you have a Susan that was very helpful? Mention in the comments.