The morning mass took longer than expected, luckily Uchechi wasn't given a time to be at her school. On getting there Mr. and Mrs. Emeka along with Uche were given a tour of the university and campus. After that they were directed her room using the number which they had been sent through an SMS. She finally found her room number and bid goodbye to them giving them a 0tight warm hug. Her roommates began to come in and they all got along well. At night Uchechi's thoughts went wild. She could feel it overwhelm her.
"How I go take cope in this place I do not know sef? How I go take survive? Jehovah. Abeg help your pikin. No one deh here to look after me, Jehovah take control" she said to herself as she finally slept off.
"Wake up oh" Bukola, one of Uchechi's roommates shouted while tapping Uche.
"Yes! What is it?" Uche returned groggily.
"Will you wake up? Our matriculation is in two hours!" Stella: another roommate said.
"What!"
Uche got up with a jolt and ran toward the bathroom to rush a bath.
"Can a girl not get some good sleep anymore?" Ada: another roommate shouted to the others.
They made their way to the general hall hoping they were not too late to find an empty seat. As they opened the door, they were welcomed with such bright, beautiful lighting, colorful decorations as well as loud laugh and giggles among families and between friends. Lucky enough, the hall wasn't cramped up yet; in fact, it was yet to begin. As swift as possible, they navigated their way through the small crowd of people that swarmed the entrance, towards a number of chairs that had not yet been occupied.
The matriculation was rather boring and somewhat educational. All she could make out of what was said were a couple of rules and guidelines and the retributions that came with breaking these laid down rules.
A small get together was organized by the university to help the students socialize and get to know each before classes began the next day. Around 10pm everyone had retreated to their various dorms. The get together went well and Uche had learnt a lot about the other students. Apparently, there were over 250 students in her department; she was amazed.
Once it was 5am most students were up and running, trying to make it in time for their morning lectures, while others slept in waiting of the time of their lectures. The students were categorized in two; day and par time students and she belonged today. She had a hard time locating where her classes were going to be held and was directed to the notice board by a lecturer.
Her lecturers were very nice and taught very well, and so were her course mates.
After her first three classes, Uchechi made her way to the canteen to get something to eat.
"Madam o, afternoon. Abeg I wan buy one-thousand-naira rice and stew with one-hundred-naira fish and a bottle of water" said Uchechi to the woman on the other side of the counter.
"Cash, card, or transfer?" The woman inquired.
"Cash" Uche answered back.
Before long, her order was brought to her in a takeaway pack tied in a nylon.
"Thank you" Uche said, and she gave the money to the woman and walked away. She made her way to an empty bench and got comfortable before she began to eat after praying. Little after she had started eating, she was joined by Bukola, Stella and Ada, her new friends. They talked for a while before going their separate ways for their next classes. And so, her studies had begun smoothly as the days and months went by.
