It was a Saturday morning in 2017, about nine months after we had graduated from high school. I sat on the chair alongside my closest buddy, Maliq, who had introduced me to the tutorial center. The lecture hall was crowded and boisterous. We were free to do anything we pleased because the teacher was not present yet.
I chuckled as I remembered how long it had been since I sat in a class as a student. Three months after graduating from high school in mid-2016, Maliq and I got employed at a private primary school in our neighborhood. I was getting used to disciplining kids and imparting knowledge as a teacher, but suddenly I'm a student again.
This was my first time in this tutorial class, which was for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The UTME exam was the exam every high school graduate wrote to get into any university in the country. To prepare for the exam, Maliq suggested we attend this tutorial class every Saturday.
As we sat in the classroom, I noticed that most of the people here knew each other or at least had been attending the tutorial before. I and Maliq were among the newcomers. Some students were busy reading, some solving past questions or challenging each other, and others were busy with their mobile phones. We needed to do something tangible while waiting for the lesson. Even though it was our first day, I recognized we needed to establish acquaintances here. I glanced around, and I noticed a group of five students busy solving past questions.
"Maliq, why don't we join those guys at the back in solving past questions?" I proposed.
"OK, let's go," he agreed.
We left our chairs and headed towards the group of students solving and asking themselves questions.
"Hi, I am Tomi, and this is my friend Maliq. We are new here, and we would like to join you guys in solving questions," I said with a smile on my face.
"And why should we allow you to join us?" asked a guy sitting at the extreme left. He was tall, thin, and had a narrow face.
"Besides, we don't think you would be able to solve this question as you guys are newcomers, unlike us, who have been attending this tutorial for months," he continued.
The guy in the middle of the group saw Maliq and said, "I know you; you used to attend the public school in the area, right?" He quipped as he pointed to Maliq.
"Yes, we both graduated from the community public school," Maliq answered casually.
The group burst into laughter and sneered. I and Maliq stood in their front, fuming. We know that many people have prejudices against public school students or graduates because they assume we are not as well educated or bright as our private school counterparts, but Maliq and I are aware that this is not true.
One of the students to the right of the person in the middle extended the question book and said, "Ok, if you can solve this math question, we will allow you to join us."
Since I was better at math than Maliq, I took the question. I accepted the question with the hope of solving it. But I tried and tried and couldn't figure it out.
"We aren't good in mathematics; why not ask us questions in biology or chemistry?" Maliq commented, realizing that I couldn't answer the question.
"Answer this biology question then," another group member teased as he faced Maliq. He asked the question, but Maliq gave the wrong answer, and they laughed.
We departed humiliated, realizing that we had forgotten a lot of what we had learned in high school and that we needed to read more if we were to pass the UTME exam.
Weeks passed, and we joined the tutorial often; we read more, practised past questions, and began answering questions in the class. The tutorial's owner, who was also one of our lecturers, bragged in a one-afternoon class that those who began attending his tutorial early would have higher UTME marks than those who joined late. He set mock exams to prove his statement, and people who had high marks were mostly his students. I and Maliq performed slightly above average, but this didn't discourage us as we continued reading for the exam.
The countrywide exam began and lasted a week, with people being scheduled on various days. Maliq was among the group that wrote on Wednesday, while I wrote on Friday. The following week the result was released, and we all gathered at the tutorial center to make use of their computers to check the results, and the shocking thing happened.
The exam had a maximum score of 400. Among those who checked their results first was Maliq, who received a score of 283 and I celebrated with him. Everyone's expression was filled with astonishment; they all began giving him a respectful glance. Other people checked, and most people didn't get up to 250 in the exams, especially those in the science department, including those group of five who mocked me and Maliq when we first joined the tutorial.
It was soon my turn to get my score, and I was really scared when I noticed that the people who were supposed to be brilliant were receiving poor scores. I silently prayed, "Oh God, please help me," as I entered my credentials and passwords. A group of friends had gathered to see what I got, and soon I saw my name at the end. I saw a total score of 281 and I was overjoyed. When the day was over, I learned that, out of all the students in the tutorial, Maliq and I had received the second and third-highest marks. A lady in the commercial section received the highest score of 303.
Two weeks after the exam, while crossing the pedestrian bridge, I met Mr. Ayo, the proprietor of the tutorial center. He instantly recognized me and summoned me.
"How are you doing?" he inquired.
"I'm fine, sir," I replied.
"I have been looking for ways to contact you and your friend. I need both results to show people the scores that my tutorial students obtained. This is the first time I have had such a high score in my tutorial since I began running it," he revealed.
I chuckled inwardly as I thought to myself how the table turned. I recall this man boasting and occasionally chasing me and Maliq out of class because we hadn't paid our lesson fees. I resolved not to give him results since I recognized they were a reflection of my studies, not what I learned in the lesson. The tutorial only made me and Maliq humble and put in the hard work of reading.
We said our goodbyes, and I promised him I would bring it.
