Good morning, family and friends. I come to you with temerity. I am a big-hearted individual who is generous in my relations. Though human behaviors are nebulous, some events around us might show that there is no love lost between everyone, but we should always embrace love. There are situations where we should embrace fun. People should be able to say, “If so-and-so were here, this event would be more fun,” or, “Good things will happen.” We should not be psychopathic in our dealings with people! Last year, I was made the group leader for a project because the lecturer, who is a doctor, saw leadership qualities in me. Initially, I thought it would be an easy task but heavy is the head that wears the crow or let me say With great power comes great responsibility. I felt I knew my colleagues so well and believed we would work together seamlessly.
The project was to check the effects of THC on Wistar rats. We had over 200 Wistar rats that had not yet been administered THC. We bought cages worth 127,000 naira, 10 bags of feed worth over 100,000 naira, feeding troughs, oral gavage equipment, and many other supplies.
The rats began to give birth, and we had to care for them. They gave birth to more and more pups. Also, beddings, disinfectant, and lighting conditions had to be perfect. This was no easy task, and some of my colleagues began to complain.
We were 10 in number and were divided into two main groups. My group had problems, everyone acted like a boss. Three of the active members were into politics, which meant frequent absences. They complained about schoolwork and other commitments. I made things compulsory for them to do.
Initially, we could cope, but it became harder when the complaints grew louder. We querelled! The issue was eventually taken to the project supervisor or the internal supervisor, who mandated that everyone must be present for all group activities; otherwise, it would affect their project scores.
I was also scared. I didn't want to be brutally cynical and hardened to the situation at hand. Also, I didn’t want to be part of anything that would hurt everyone’s grades. I wanted everyone to get an A. I took the project work personally and would be in the animal house from morning till evening, monitoring the rats.
One day, the politically active members began to complain about how demanding politics was and how fed up they felt. Their situation was like those of students who were candidates for an examination but scared of failing. I smiled and told them I had put myself in their shoes and asked them to do the same for me.
I assured them they would get A’s by the grace of God. Judging from the previous set, those who participated in politics had either B's or C's in their projects. It was as if I had the great commission to preach salvation to people. I made sure no negative reports were exposed, especially since the supervisor had a way of detecting the truth. Everyone supported me in different ways. Some volunteered their time, money, and kindness. There were days I found unexpected money in my bank account. They made sure to visit me regularly. I will never forget their kindness, and I hope they won’t forget mine too. Lo and behold, project defense day arrived. I had explained every detail of the project to my groupmates, and they begged me to speak in a way that would cover for everyone. I told them, “God will take control.” I was so nervous I could barely articulate my thoughts and had to urinate two to three times from anxiety. During the defense, which was conducted as a group session, the external supervisor from the University of Ibadan asked each of us questions. He started with Jummy K. from the other group. She spoke, but the man wasn’t satisfied. Then I began to speak, I don’t even know where the courage came from, and I explained everybody’s part in the project all at once. The supervisor asked me, “Do you want to continue?” I said, “Yes.” He laughed and replied, “We can’t continue, or else we won’t finish easily.” The remaining questions were simple since I had already explained the entire project to him. He was happy, truly happy, and rewarded each of us with 40 marks. The internal supervisor, our project supervisor, gave the least mark of 30 to the politicians, but by God’s grace, they still scored exactly 70. God is wonderful 💯.
We jubilated and celebrated. They praised me and bought drinks for me. The main message is this: I understood that, by standard, everyone was meant to participate. I also realized that if I had made a bad report, it could have led to continuous failure. But God saw us through and answered our prayers. No one received a B, we all got A’s. I miss my friends. I even miss the politicians 😂. Thanks for reading!
All images were generated using Meta AI