Identity

My university was more of a social edifice than a place of learning. Whilst the dream of most students ab initio was to get a degree, the thrills and glamour got to some, and they took a detour from their initial stance. The partying all night, the liberty, and the free will to act uncontrollably were oddly satisfying and people took solace in them. You could see people with genuine admission not step into the university in months, they were free, and they could act as they like. I, on the other hand, had huge deference for my parents and their investment in me educationally. I was a bit social, but I didn’t jettison what brought me to the university. I also had a brother staying with me and I had to act as a role model for him. I did the socials on a low and my studies too.

But with the razzmatazz of the socials, people have this fear of exams, and a few weeks before the exam, the air around them changed. Whilst some read in their hostels, others prefer to read in public places like classrooms (ETF), mosques, churches, street lights, libraries, etc. Some even took it a notch higher by going for night reading whilst being devoured by mosquitoes. A friend of mine was given to such type of reading and not to look unserious, I had to follow him to read in one of the ETF classrooms overnight. Also, the look on your face when you come back from night class and the cheers from people screaming Iwe!! Iwe!! (bookworm) prompted me to go. We got to the classroom and there were lots of people fixated on their books with their lit candles, others were discussing, I read for like thirty minutes, and I slept. I woke up around 5 am the next day and I left for my hostel. I had come to make a fool of myself because I chose to assume another person`s identity.

The world is a conformation complex where all we do is reinforced by receiving from others directly or indirectly. I felt I needed to act like others to conform to the assertion of seriousness. I went for the night class only to satisfy my curiosity in identifying with the serious students in the wake of the examination but I ended up achieving nothing overnight. Alas, I knew I wasn't configured for such and vowed never to go for night class again and that was the last time I went. We are in a world of conformation and we do things based on our perception of others directly or indirectly. We want to look like our esteemed bloke, we want to dress like them, we want to talk like them, we want to walk like them whilst we lose our unique identity. To achieve this, some joined various groups to have an identity, some picked up values alien to their persona, some dressed like their esteemed king and Queen, and some spoke like them and acted like them.

You were created uniquely, and you need not act like others to gain acceptance. You are enough and you need not join that group to become recognized. Acting like your deified lord demeans your essence. You can learn from others and still be yourself. Understand this and you will be at liberty. Do have a nice day.