Ticket To My Life

Welcome To ICOS

Islamic College Osogbo {ICOS}. P. O. Box 956, Gbongan/Ibadan Expressway, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.

Motto: Under The Shade Of Al-Islam.

That's my school alright. Nothing's changed over the past years I've been in here.

Strict teachers? Check.

Much ruckus? It's loud alright.

Vehicle blares? It's there.

Whites everywhere? Yep

I'm in ICOS for sure.

Our uniform is white hijab, jalabiyah and cap with green trousers for females while white shirt, green trousers with a white cap for males. Only brown sandals/shoes or white sneakers is allowed. Anything different is anti-ICOS.

We've got an ultramodern hostel behind the school and a dining hall. There's also the school mosque where we observe salat. There is a canteen with two food vendors and two women sellIing snacks. There is also a shop tagged 'ICOS Supermarket' as it takes care of the needs of the day students as well as hostel students, providing a wide variety of provisions -like cereals, footwear, confectionery, drinks, body products- bound to be required by all. There is a bookshop stocked with the newest editions of textbooks and learning instruments.
There are three building blocks, two of which are storey buildings. There is a new building undergoing construction. It's a storey building also. We call it the G.R.A, i.e Government Restricted Area, simply coz the place is remote from the rest of the school.

Anywho, am in Senior Secondary School Three (SSS 3) which you people probably refer to as 12th Grade. This is my first day in my new class. I'm not sure how things are done where you guys are from but here in Nigeria, when students reach Junior Secondary School Three (JSS 3) - which is 9th Grade - we undergo a promotion exam which determines the department we get into. See there are three departments .

First is the Science Department where science subjects like Chemistry, Physics and Biology are taught. Students interested in health related courses, Engineering or Computing are here.
Second is the Arts and Languages Department where subjects like English Literature, Government, Yoruba (a language spoken in Africa, mostly Nigeria) are learnt. Students in for Law, Journalism, Psychology, Mass Communication and the likes are found here.
The third is the Social Science otherwise known as Commercial Department. Subjects like Accounting, Economics, Geography and others are taught. Students are majorly interested in courses like Financial Accounting, Urban and Regional Planning, Banking and Finance and the likes.

I consider myself lucky to be in the department of my choice as it had always been my dream to study an health-related course. I found out we were using our old SSS 2 class temporarily since our new class isn't ready for use yet. I entered the class to be greeted by a set of familiar eyes. I was not overwhelmed or anything as I was used to everyone, well almost everyone since I was not classmate with some people in Junior School. We had been split into three arms in Junior School so not everyone I was on speaking terms with but over the two years in High school we've learnt to get along quite well. I joined my old classmates from Junior School who happened to be in the same department as I; Yahaya Zainab and Abdul-rasaq Maryam.

"Salaam alaikum," They greeted pleasantly.

"Wa alaykum salaam," I replied with a smile. It felt good to be in the company of old acquaintances.

Zainab was my best friend. We've been besties since Junior Secondary School One (JSS 1), the 7th Grade.
Maryam was a friend although we had some ups and downs and managed to survive at least.

Quick pointer, guys. Here in Africa we go by our last names first, followed by first names then middle names. Which is why am Zubayr Azeezat Ibidolapo. Hope you got it.

"Azeezat!" Someone beckoned. It turned out to be another old classmate and friend even if we aren't classmates anymore as she is in Arts and Languages Department - Salahuddeen Hikmat. "Salaam alaykum. I've asked about you earlier but you weren't here yet."

"Wa alaykum salaam. I just got here not long ago." I told her. "How did your holiday went?"

"It was okay at least," She waved the topic off.

Here most of us girls, especially Muslimahs are not allowed to leave one's parents' house for too long except it is to stay with a close relative. The general belief is that if females are given too much freedom they might end up being too close with the male counterparts which goes against the fard (Allah's commandment) as they are non-mahrams (i.e. marriageable men) and it is haram(forbidden) to touch non-relatives.

With the path the youths of today are threading, parents are being forced to become stricter towards female children so as to avoid males taking unnecessary advantage of them. This is why third term (summer) holidays are boring to most of us.

The males, on the other hand, are not as restricted as us although there is a limit to their freedom. We all try to stay friendly while maintaining the fard.

"Azeezat!" A familiar voice called. It was an old friend also, Adeyemo Rasheedah.

"Rasheedah, Salam alaykum." I hugged her. "Long time no see," I joked.

She snorted. "Over one week holiday."

Right, did I mention the whole world was still recovering from the pandemic at this period. This is in the year 2020, as my class set is 2020/2021 session - yep, post-covid. I'm pretty sure everyone was still dealing with the aftermath of the virus at this time; we all were. Total lockdown through out the year, fundamental rights restrictions, compulsory use of face mask and social distancing which is the most annoying part let me tell ya! I remember well when we resumed around September, 2020 to conclude our SSS 2 Session. We had to comply with so many rules, rushing through the syllabus the whole time. To top it all we had West African Examination Council General Certificate Examination, generally called WAEC GCE here. It's like a preparatory exam towards our Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) organised by the same body WAEC. It was meant to take place at the end of our SSS 2 but had to be shifted to the beginning of SSS 3 so since the lockdown had disrupted the school curriculum already we were given one week holiday before starting a new session hence the reunion.

"When are we moving to our new class? I don't understand this school," Who else can whine all day about the school if not Fareedah. We call her kiwi coz of her dark complexion.

"Sorry dear." My namesake, -- although with an h instead of a t like me -- Azeezah said.

"Let's move o!" Aisha yelled. Did I mention she's a total brain?

And like that, everyone dispersed following separate routes to get to our new classrooms. Guess we'll catch up later then.

''''
Hello and Assalamualaikum to everyone in the world! Like I said this story is coming a bit too late coz am done with Secondary School now, yup am a big girl now😏 Anywho....see you next chapter I hope. Byeeeee

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~Azeezat💝