I was 18, fresh out of secondary school When I got admitted to study Microbiology in a higher institution in Katsina. I was the first person amongst my brothers,sisters,cousins to enter the university . I became somewhat close to a celebrity in my family and even across the streets. I felt on top the world in that moment I believed I was destined for great things . The day I was to finally depart for school,I got equipped with a lot of things you'll think I'm going to spend 20 years . That morning,my mom sat with me and gave me the last advice before I leave and venture into a different world . As I packed my luggage , I felt like a thousand bricks was weighed on my head . There was tears in my eyes but I couldn't let anyone see it . My younger brother assisted me with my stuffs all the way down to the car park . He waved me good bye and that's when all the emotions I've held came crashing down on me . Tears started flowing out of my eyes, I used my sun glasses to conceal any sign of tears from onlookers. This is it ,my journey to becoming a man , a boy shouldering the expectations of many , a boy many looked up to it ,I need to man up and do it for my family, make everyone proud . The more I kept on motivating myself the more tears continued flowing out of my eyes . I was a brilliant student in secondary school, upon entering the university my sole aim was to hit first class and maintain it till I graduate 😁. That truly was my goal , until I wrote my first test ,that was chem101(general chemistry) . Normally in secondary school I don't study hard ,I just read for maybe 20 minutes a day before test or exam and I'll go and 'freestyle" on my answer booklet the next day , I always ended up getting high mark . Prior to the test I met a friend I knew back home ,he was in 200 level,he failed the general chemistry course and had to carry it over with us . He adviced me to study hard because the course it's challenging. In my mind I was like see this dundy, no matter how bad it reach I will score up to 40/100 which is the pass mark . I wrote the test ,when the results came out I nailed 5/20. It was a minor wake up call for me . Then the pressure set in,I was careless and wasteful with food and the money given to me from home. In 3 weeks I've finished most of my food stuffs and left with garri. In that moment I realized that I didn't just go to higher institution to read ,I am there to learn life . There was no one to cook for me ,no one to wake me up if I'm late for lectures,no one to tell me to go to class ,no one to tell me to read . I needed to sort myself out by myself. It was a life changing experience for me . Back to studies , I started to study harder but I wasn't getting the results I expected. Approaching my first semester exam,My targets changed from first class to 4 point ,from 4 point to second class upper. In the end ,I got second class second class lower . I had one carry over .... Guess which course ? Genera chemistry 😆 I couldn't even tell my parents my result. I was greatly disappointed. That moment was a big wake up call for me . I learnt some things about life ,in secondary school,I was a proud person ,I never ask for help no matter how stuck I am . I always believed in myself to solve my problems . While that is a good thing ,I learnt life doesn't always work that way . I used to copy people who go to school at night to study till morning,but that never worked for me ,I stopped that and started doing things my own way . Lastly, I left something very important; God . I regularly missed prayers , I don't wake up at night to perform nafila . I never asked for His help,I wasn't connected to God at all,I was so confident in my abilities and God left me with my brains .