I grew up with overprotective parents. My parents, particularly my mom, weren't strict. They were just too loving. They didn't realize that when something becomes too much, regardless of whether it is good or bad, it still will yield negative consequences. My parents wanted their children within their reach. According to them, the world is cruel and only can we be safe under their wings. I remember during my elementary and high school days, my parents wouldn't let me go on excursions with my classmates. I remember how my classmates visited cool places like waterfalls, zoos in another state and museums. I wondered why my experiences were different. Later, I realized my parents prevented me from going on excursions because they were scared something would happen to me. They were coming from a good place, but little did they know that they were suffocating me. Deep down, something within me wanted to explore different places, but my parent's rules kept me in a box.
It got to a point when I totally forgot about going on excursions with my friends. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, I simply waved it off because I knew my parents wouldn't allow me to. This was me until two weeks ago when an opportunity presented itself again. Every year, my department in the western part of Nigeria hosts a 5-day excursion. In my four years in the university, I had never attended this program. But this time, I saw it as a golden opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands. I thought to myself, “I have never been on an excursion all my life.” Of course, I have traveled to other states, but I have never been to amusing places just to have fun with friends. But this time? This time I decided it was time to change. Sometimes, rebelling against things is the best option.
Despite my mom's warnings about how the world is cruel and how excursions can be dangerous, I managed to convince her. The destination of the 5-day program or excursion is Lagos, which is more than 6 hours from my place. Yesterday, I traveled with my friends to the place. Although the journey was stressful, I knew I made the right choice as soon as I stepped down. Basically, the program is 5 days long with different themes and activities for each day. Today, we had academic activities - debates, quizzes, and a spelling bee. The venue for the competitions was the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Before today, I had never been to the University of Lagos.
For today's activities, the dress code was native corporate attire. However, not all of us had that, so some of us wore English corporate clothes while others wore casual clothes. The University of Lagos was established in 1962, just two years after Nigeria gained independence from the British government. I was astonished by the things I saw - the big buildings, aesthetically-pleasing flowers, and more importantly, everywhere was so clean. Unfortunately, I started feeling hungry and couldn't stay until the end of the competitions. Tonight is for movie night. I don't know what movie we want to watch yet, but I hope it will be worth watching in the end.
Tomorrow is beach day! I'm so hyped about it because I have never been to the beach. Let's see how it goes!
All images in this post are mine.
Thanks for reading!
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