Lessons from my "small but mighty student"

In life we all pray for opportunities and sometimes when it comes we couldn't get because of personal things which I discovered through a boy that was formerly in my class when he was in SS1.
Last Wednesday, I got to school and while discharging my duties I was told the principal ( Mrs Odetoyinbo) needed to see me. On getting to her, I was told that I would be taking one of our students out for competition and I asked who this person was and she said Taofeeq Lukmon and I smiled that grace has finally found this boy.

While I was his class teacher I taught them how to engage in productive reading, how to prepare ahead of the class, how to jot down points when teachers are explaining, how to set goals and achieve it and how to prepare for the unexpected and he was one of those that put all these into practice. Taofeeq started solving WAEC past questions right from SS1 and he was never shy to teach others.
On Friday 8th, November 2024, we went for the quiz competition organized by the ICAN OBA society , at their district secretariat, Bayuf busstop, along Badagry road, Lagos, Nigeria.
When I got there I met others schools representatives and while I was filling the participants lists I saw that most of the students where SS3 students and my boy was part of the few from SS 2. I was afraid that he might not qualify. He saw this too but he wasn't in any way discouraged. After the written quiz we were told that those that qualified will be contacted to come for the final round the following day.

On our way, I asked how the quiz was and he told me most of the questions were SS 3 work and I just had to tell him that I believe he will qualify no matter what. From him, I learnt the power of preparation and power of courage in life. This boy has been preparing by studying past questions and when he saw the questions he was able to identify that they were SS3 questions even when he has not been taught and he had Courage such that he wasn't intimidated by height nor the class of other participants.
That particular evening, I was contacted that we qualified for the finals and I narrated everything to my principal and she told me one thing that surprised him was that when the boy was called he was surprised to see how small he was and the response she gave him. Taofeeq told her "Consider it done" to me that is a sense of responsibility. This boy apart from his boldness was ready for any responsibility given to him, even in class he doesn't give excuses for anything, he will always want to try.

The following day we were at the venue and out of 29 schools that came for the quiz only 9 qualified to the final and my boy was the only SS2 student among them. The final round was tough, it was more of theory and I saw how he tried to beat the time but he couldn't and when he submitted I asked him if he could write something, he told me he didn't finish because he doesn't know how to solve most of the questions, I forgot to mention that the questions cover English Language, Mathematics, Accounting, Economics and Commerce.
At this point I wasn't even expecting any awards but I was just happy that he made it to the finals and he compete with his seniors and was still able to pass what people that should be preparing for waec couldn't pass.

When I was with the other teachers from different schools they ask what class he was and I was proud to tell them and they were surprised he made it to the finals. Another lesson I learnt is that at every stage there was no sign of discouragement on his face. Even when he couldn't finish the questions he wasn't discouraged and when he was called for the interview section, I was scared because I knew he struggles with spoken English at times, but I was surprised to hear him speak before the judges without minding his flaws. This taught me that I shouldn't feel inferior irrespective of my weakness.

After all was done, out of nine schools he was placed 3rd in the interview and 4th in the quiz competition. I was so happy for him. We celebrated him because he beats people's expectations and I was happy too because I'm his teacher.
In summary, we should learn to prepare for the unexpected, be courageous, never be discouraged, learn to take responsibilities, don't feel inferior and keep trying and we will surely be celebrated one day.
NOTE: ALL PICTURES ARE MINE.

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