Echoes of experience

Born on the 31st of May in a bustling city to a middle class family, life posed to be promising. I was born an ordinary child with not much speciality to be marked at birth. My mum fell ill sometime after giving birth to me and at nine months, I got temporarily separated from my mum.
I had to get weaned at that early age and soon after she recovered, I got enrolled to school at age one. I was quite young and was just a body occupying space in the classroom. I could barely write the number '1' at that age but somehow got promoted from kindergarten.
Things got harder as the years went by and at age four, my dad resigned from work. Reason being that he was not properly paid for years. At age five, we could not keep up with the rapid evolvement of the city and moved to another. We were a family of five by then, with me being the second child. My mum could not continue her cyber cafe business in this new state we found ourselves because of our house's location.
We got enrolled to a new school immediately the session began and I was forced to repeat since I was joining a new school system. But my elder brother was chanced to move on by only heaven knows how. Just as we got to the city, my mum had my little sister.
We got to know that my dad chose this city since he was pursuing a job here. But when the time for appointment came, they lost all records of him and the job passed him by. That was it, both my and mum were rendered jobless in this new city. We knew life was bound to be tough.
At school, I did excellently well. I made two friends but unfortunately none ever lasted. One left before the session ended while the other moved out of the city as we advanced to the next class. I moved on and in grade 1, I made a new friend. School life was challenging from the start but home was far difficult. We had to depend on others to feed and my mum was tired of it. Relatives and friends my parents helped when they were a bit well to do became distant. My mum resorted to selling items on a table in front of our house.
The landlady of the rented apartment we lived in was also living in the compound and she was a whole lot of trouble. She yelled insults whenever we swept early and cursed whenever we the kids ran. We did not complain as we hoped to leave soon. My paternal grandmum died when I was in grade 2 so we went to the village to hold her funeral. Not knowing what it meant to lose someone and since I was not close to her, I went about feeling all was okay. While others mourned, I happily watched children play since I was not good at socialising. I got invited by some kids to play on a certain day and I joined them. I found the games they played rough and decided to pull out but I got pushed to the ground. I fell face flat with a black eye to show for it. I returned to school with the black eye and was mocked for it but never minded. Well I was the overall best in my whole class arm for that year so I took that as compensation .
Moving to the next class, I got separated from my friend again but I pushed on with others. I fractured my hand while trying some gymnastic's stunt and that made me quit gymnastics for life. My parents being overly protective, I and my siblings were never given the opportunity to ride a bike. We were not allowed to associate with kids outside school and that went a long way in harming me. I was hardly included in conversations since I hardly hanged out with my peers but I did not let that stop me. They felt that I was from a wretched family and should not associate with them but I was not one to look down on myself so I still tried to mingle even though interactions were not my thing. My mates mainly spoke to me when they needed help with studies but I did not want to accept that they only wanted to use me and still related with them.
My dad applied for many jobs but whenever it was due something always came up. The bills piled up and our school fees were becoming an unbearable burden.
I was never a teacher's favourite neither was I given special attention by anybody not even family. I was just me. I started participating in debate in grade 3 and in grade 4, I participated in a spelling bee but got disappointed. In grade 5, a teacher gave me an opportunity. I was not his favourite but he cherished me and he's the first teacher I know I shall never forget. He took me to the government house to present a speech to a commissioner. I thought that was my turning point, many people did, but no. I presented twice, to the commissioner and the governor of the state. I was given a cash price of 500 000 naira. I saw that as a huge sum back then. Some government officials took down my contact promising to reach out to me but that was the end. They forgot me. The money was divided by the school and my parent got 200 000 naira which was a bit higher than our rentage fee by a few thousands.
In grade 5, I was the best math student but when time came for the top ten best students to be chosen to prepare to represent the school in grade 6 for a math contest, I was not chosen. I did not even know. A friend invited me for the lessons and I partook in the preparations. I was the only one who qualified for the second round from my school but I was not ranked far from the last ,16th out of 20. Everyone lost hope in me since the first twenty were to compete to get the best seven. Well my parents did not lose hope in me and I also did not. My teacher stopped teaching me long before the results came out and was reluctant to take me to the next round. But it was God's will so I scaled through. I came 4th and was granted a scholarship covering all through high and middle school.
On the day the results were announced, I called home and found out that my school was holding my graduation that very day and I, as the head girl, was absent. Others schools at the competition waited to celebrate with their students but mine celebrated in my absence. I got many gifts from the school as the best student of the year but I was not there to claim it in person. My graduation gown laid wasted. My school made promises to me and my family knowing our condition bout kept to none. Instead they strived to tap from the little token we got from there.
I continued schooling in another state as a scholarship student. It was a boarding school and as I returned things were no longer the same with my peers. They saw no need to hide their disgust in me any longer and openly showed it. Some still spoke to me but not like before. I felt hated. I had no friends back at home and I found it hard to relate in my new school since I doubted everyone. It took a while before I settled in and my mates were a bit helpful. They were all from wealthy homes and since we all mostly come from different states, they knew not of my background and related well with me. I pushed forward, spoke to everyone but consider none as my friend.
Two years passed and I made a true friend at home. We had known each other for years and I consider her a friend since she is willing to accept me for who I am. I lost my maternal grandmum, the only one who named me her favourite and it hurts badly till date. We moved after my parents quarrelled with the landlady but still in the same state selling on a table in front of our house.
Generalising, held me back a lot. I saw few people's mistakes as all but I am getting bettrr. I am still not too good at starting conversations but now I have people who relate with me regardless of that, those who want a relationship outside the classroom, those that do not want to use me. I am not an open book but people think they know me since I tell tales, they do not. My mates would one day find out who I am but I am not ashamed since I got there from that home.
Now, I am in grade 11, having super wealthy mates does not make me look down on myself, it makes me strive. I am fairly talented in drawings, music, reading or let me say books in general. I am not good at conversing so I rather spread word with ink which is my thing. People see me as talent wasted but I see myself as one awaiting opportunity.
My parents may be poor but they love me and want the best for me. They do not want me to make the mistakes they made and I appreciate that and all those that helped me get this far. I am grateful despite the fact that my mum still sells at a table and my dad is still jobless because they are others that have it way worse.
My family strives and I see light at the end of our tunnel.