Before I moved to campus, my mom had already concluded that I wouldn't be staying on campus. She had a favorable impression of school campus life, and I agreed since she wanted the best for me. However, securing accommodation outside the campus became a challenge, leading me to squat with my mom's coworker's daughter, Tope. The arrangement turned out to be one of the worst experiences of my life. There was no substantial difference between my situation and that of those without shelter—an uncomfortable realization for a fresher.
Every time I finished a lecture and returned home, I faced the problem of not being able to enter the apartment. Tope was always busy entertaining a man, which left me feeling stranded and unwelcome. There was a day I almost slept outside because her man was sleeping over. I refused to let her direct my life and both of slept in d same room, I couldn't close my eyes throughout the night. This chaotic living situation significantly impacted my grades during my first semester at the 100 level.
Thankfully, my mom is not just a parent but also a friend, and I confided in her about my struggles whenever I visited home. With no mobile phone for communication, enduring this phase was my only option until I managed to secure accommodation in the second semester. I often think back to Tope and the trials I faced living with her, she showed me how unkind living arrangements could be. I’m grateful to have overcome that phase. You know the joy of having your life back after experiencing some kind of life you haven't witnessed before,that was how I felt the day I got my own space.
If given the choice between on-campus and off-campus living, I would choose off-campus repeatedly. The torment I witnessed on campus is something I never want to experience again. There was one particularly traumatic incident that still haunts me. While preparing for exams, my friends and I decided to camp at one of our friend's houses on campus. Out of nowhere, some groups of cultists entered the compound and unleashed a horrific act of violence upon a girl. They raped her, inserting a boiling ring into her private part and plugging it into the electric socket; she died instantly. It's a torment I can never forget in my life.
Staying off campus is better than on campus for me, the trauma the school premises carrries are way fqr too horrible compared to off campus. After lecture, you cannever find me around the school campus because it is either one gun short or the other. There was a day we finished from lecture room,decided to take some pictures at the motion ground. We haven't started when we heard the sound of gun shorts, a guy was shot right from the examination hall, dragged outside with matchet. He was butchered like a goat meat on his final day in school. All these happened right in my presence. It was so traumatic!
Off campus is better than on campus life.
My response to the #hiveghana writing contest om the topic: CAMPIS LIFE
The image is my humble self