Exam Tension

        Some students tend to relax during the semester. They feel exams are not fast approaching so why should they read.They rather read for exams a week or two to examination period, thus increasing their work load at the end of the semester. What they forget is that if they fail to plan, they are planning to fail. When they begin to read, they read in a rush and forget that there is a big difference between reading and studying.

         Let me share my short experience in the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria with You.I was in my first year (freshman year) in school. I was told a lot about University of Ibadan and how difficult it is to make a seven point in most courses in school. As a result of this, I decided to study hard. My first test came up and I scored twenty eight over thirty. I was surprised because I hate poetry.


         The examination timetable was out. Poetry was my first paper. I was afraid. I went to my room and began to study. I studied till my friends began to remind me I also had to read for other courses. I studied till the D-day arrived. When I got to the hall, my heart began to pound, my hands became sweaty. To make it worse, third world war was going on in my stomach. I began to sweat. I was so uncomfortable. Then in the examination hall, the question sheet and answer paper was passed to me. I almost jumped in excitement. I was given two compulsory questions. Thirty five marks were attached to each of the compulsory question.


        I knew the answer to both questions, but I was still scared. I managed to answer question one with my sweaty palm. I moved to the second question and guess what?!!! I went blank. I hear people say that they go blank during examination but I've never experienced anything like that before. I began to think, it wasn't working, so I decided to pray, but that didn't work too. I couldn't write anything again and the time was up. My answer sheet was collected from me by the invigilator.


      I got out of the hall, picked a taxi to my room and cried till I slept. The annoying thing was that I knew the answer to the question but I had gone blank during the examination. When the examinations were over, as I anticipated the result I became restless with fear because I didn't want to be sent out of school as a result of poor grades. Then, the result were released, I summed up courage to go and check the result in the lecturer's office. I realized that I had scored twenty seven over seventy. A very poor performance. After the compilation of the result of that semester I managed to scale through. I had an overall score of fifty five percent.


      The lesson I learned from this experience was, no matter how much you plan for an examination, you should NEVER allow fear set in, otherwise you will FAIL. I realized that the reason I went blank during that examination was because I was scared. I have never had that sort of experience before. That was the first and last time and it will never occur again in Jesus name. Amen. As long as you study hard, you will come out with good grades. Do not give room for any form of fear that will lead to examination tension before or during any examination.




This article was written by Ruth Paul. In her friend's room in Ibadan. Enjoy reading Bloggers...

The sweet taste of reality

   It is funny how much zeal you see in children. You hear most of them say "when I grow I'll love to become a Pilot", "when I grow I want to become a Doctor"and a whole lot of great stuff. Most times you are even amazed by how much zeal these young kids have. They often get to partake a lot of career focused drama. You see the joy in their faces as they slip into the roles of Doctors, Lawyers, Astronauts and all. What baffles me is where all this zeal and hunger for success dissapears to when they become young adults.

What really happens? Is it that our vision changes? Is it laziness? Or inconsistency? I really don't know what happens to all those dreams we had as kids. Now all we hear is "I want to Hammer", "I want to be rich and successful", "I want to ride the latest cars", "I want to use the latest phone and wear all them designer dresses and all" . I guess it all comes with the package of being a young adult in a material focused society. We tend to forget about relevant things and focus on the irrelevant things like parties and time wasting ventures.

I sit and ask myself, how we will become what we want to be when all we do is NOTHING? Most people throw away their goals and start living below their potential. All they want is to get degree in the university, get a job that pays the bills, get married and have children. It doesn't have to be that way. You must not follow the majority.STAND OUT! DREAM BIG! Don't just relax after dreaming. Work really hard till your dream becomes REALITY.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 RUTH PAUL
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HUTULA

       I am all alone. It is freezing out here. My whole body hurts. I feel bruised all over. Wait a minute, what am I hearing? Are those birds singing? I can hear some sounds. Am I in a Jungle? or a forest? Ouch! My legs, it hurts so much. It feels like a trailer ran over it. My head, it feels like the movie "Drum Line" is being played in it. My eyes, I am trying to open it, it felt like chewing gum is stuck to my lashes. I struggle to open my eyes till each lash began to separate. All of a sudden, four hefty men step out from the trees and surround me.  They have the fiercest look I've ever seen my entire life. They are all dressed in leaves and covered in black paint. I am in the jungle. How did I get here?

      I am scared to death not only because of the look on their faces, also because I can't remember how I got here. I am still thinking as the men pull me to my feet. I begin to struggle. I try to get out of the grip of one of the men holding me but he is too strong for me. I am tiring out, so i decide to stop struggling and give in to my fate. The men begin to pull me to the north part of the forest. After we walk for a while, we arrive at a small village filled with strange looking people. All of them are covered in black paint and leaves. There is a large clearing on which some huts stand in a semi circle. The huts are made from mud and thatch and have small openings for doors. I notice we are heading towards the biggest hut in the village. 


       The villagers follow us to the hut. They are all screaming in a weird high pitched manner, scaring me further till I feel my knees give way under me. The hut is surrounded by a dozen men holding sharp tip spears. They look like the men who found me in the forest. I think the place is some sort of palace because of the decoration on the wall. A handsome man with a short beard dressed in nothing but a leopard skin loin cloth comes out of the opening that is the door. He begins to address the villagers in a strange language. All of a sudden the people begin to disperse one by one leaving me with the guards holding me and the young chief. He barks a sharp command to the men holding me. And they pick me up and pull me towards a hut to my left. 


       As I am shoved through the door into the hut. My eyes try to grow accustom to the darkness of the hut. In the middle of the hut is a raised mud bed with a raffia mat on top of it. On the red mud wall are a dozen skins hanging. To my right is a giant black pot with a thick boiling gruel. I turn to the sound of something behind me and see a fat woman with massive breasts walking towards me with purpose. I back away from her in fear till my legs hit the mud bed and I sit down. She stops short of where I am and begins to make some unintelligible sounds but I can only make out the words "Hutula!" "Hutula!". She kneels down between my legs and begins to massage my feet with some ointment she pulls from the string of her loin cloth. I feel myself begin to relax and feel some relief from the pain of being dragged by the guards in the forest. Ten minutes later, she stands up and goes out just the way she came. 


        I sit alone for ten minutes and then the young man who had appeared to be a chief walks into the hut. He approaches the bed where I am sitting and sits down beside me. I shift as far away from him as possible. He smiles at me and reaches out to touch my thigh. I scream and slap at his hand. A frown appears on his face and he begins to speak in their strange language. It is clear that he is angry at my rebuff. Then again, he springs to his feet and storms out of the hut. 


       As if on cue, armed men rush into the hut. Some hands pull me roughly to my feet. I scream and begin to beg but this does not stop the men. They soon begin to tie me up. Then they drag me out of the hut. Once we are out again at the clearing, they lift me above their head. I can see a big pot above a huge fire. Now the whole village is dancing and screaming. I realize that I am going to be used as a sacrifice. I scream in terror, frantically clawing at my captors. They move me towards the great fire and the boiling pot. I can feel the heat on my skin as we move close. Then as they make to shove me into the hot water......I WAKE UP!


Arrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!! What a DREAM....

    RUTH PAUL

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I finally decided to do it! I have moved from blog.com and am now here on blogger. Now countdown to getting my favourite stories from my former blog to my new blog….3…2…1 (Can’t wait, right?) So if you are interested in taking a trip into my mind, stay tuned to my new blog for more fascinating stories. *Wink*