THE EYE-OPENING ENCOUNTER

On one of the numerous strikes that was embarked on while I was a student in the university, I thought it was good that I spent the time getting meaningfully engaged. With how the country goes, the strike could go on for a year without the talks of ending it. And it's always advised that students should get a skill as the job opportunities here can be not-numerous enough to accommodate the large number of graduates each year.

Image is mine

I chose to learn a tech skill and seeking the absolute best experience that I could afford, I chose an institute that wasn't anywhere near my house. Some big facility with amazing tutors and great environ. I remember my friends who lived in my neighbourhood had hailed me, calling me a 'big boy' when i told them the name of the place and location.The centres around my house were a little not efficient.

First day of lecture and it felt like I was the only one in my league. Other students like myself wore nice outfits, had cool gadgets, they were obviously from very well-to-do homes and I learned they all attended private universities unlike me who went to a federal one. Merely looking at them,

I kept to myself a lot. I wasn't a guy with a poor self-esteem, I just did not know how well to proceed around these people coupled with how quiet I was. I usually had one fine attribute I possess bringing me in the light without me putting in any counscious effort. That time, it was the fluidity of how i grasped what my tutor taught. On one of the days when we had a short break and I was trying out a tutorial on the system assigned to me, this guy, Owen, walked up to me.

'You always keep to yourself," he said, almost startling me.

"I'm always occupied. Theres little time to mingle," I replied him when I gained my composure. It was a lie.

"You sure, cause i dont see it that way," he said.

"Okay, bro. Thing is, I feel odd. Like out of place here and I know it's all too obvious," I finally confessed.

"I feel that way too," he shrugged.

"You! You do?? Don't humor me please," I told him.

"I'm being serious, i do. Maybe not in the way that you do. Ever since I started coming out here, I feel like a fish out of water," Owen said.

"What's that? The fish out of water thing," I asked him as that was the very first time I heard that statement

"Oh, it's an expression. I'm surprised you don't know it," he said.

"Well, I don't, as you have seen," I told him

"It just means that I feel out of place. Same thing we're talking about," Owen said.

"I learned something new today, thank you. But why, why do you feel that way?" I asked him.

"Look around me, look at you, you're so smart. Me? I'm a dunce," he pouted.

I screamed in my head and said, "Don't say that. You're not."

"I know I'm not but, it feels so sometimes. Being surrounded by people who have this tech thing locked in, while I struggle with every single class. It's so embarrassing," Owen complained. The frustration evident in his tone.

"Why did you come here then?" I asked.

"It's my dad. Its his handwork. He forced me here against my will. Says I need to have soft skills," Owen grumbled.

"It's all for your interest. And you know how parents can be sometimes too," I continued, "its fascinating to me though that I'm not the only one feeling as I am now. I would never have believed that any one of you guys out here feel as I do," I said.

Owen laughed.

"You've seen the life. We both think the other has it much better. The irony!" Owen sighed.

That was an important lesson I learned that day. And I thought of that encounter so much in the days after that I felt a sense of gratitude for what I had. Owen and I began to hang out around the institute after then, and have been in communication since.

Thanks for stopping by.
SOKA🖤