Hi guys, I’m pleased to announce that my story found a home in
@iselemagazine
. Thank you isele, for giving me my debut publication. Hopefully, it is a prelude to more magic.
Also, thank you
@MsOlisakwe
for your input on my story❤️.
Read it here:
For instance, when I knew there was a high chance I would give a speech in October, I started taking a public speaking course in March. I’d be in my room l recording videos, thinking about prosody, breath intake…
My CNF piece, Oversabi, is shortlisted for the Alinea Prize, 2023! Thank you to all the judges
@agbowoart
: Daisy Odey, Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu, Nabilah Usman, and S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema for reading and believing in my work.
- I received a TON of personal rejections (evidence that I’m putting myself out there and improving).
- Got shortlisted for the Sevhage prize for creative Nonfiction.
- Got shortlisted for the Alinea prize for Creative Nonfiction.
- Became friends with two writers I admire.
“Keep silent let people blow your trumpet”. But will they blow it though? You see, humility is easier to practise when people are honest. But too many people are not. People can see you’re literally killing it but they’ll look away and then blame you for blowing your trumpet.
Full story.
My friend was job hunting for almost 6 months, he finally got a remote job at a Nigerian company.
I'm sharing first-hand experience because this is my best friend.
People do not understand how to present strong coherent arguments, that’s why they introduce strawmans to rile people up.
A strong argument sticks to what is CLEARLY stated. Not implied. The that implication is where your bias shows.
The key to gaining confidence is to be confident. A bit paradoxical, but I’ll explain. There are two things to keep in mind:
1. The world will perceive you the way you present yourself.
It’s one of the reasons the first time I bagged a 5.0 was in my most challenging semester and level. It’s one of the reasons my highest As—80s and 90s—are usually in the courses I find the most difficult.
I’m referring to the entire college. The college comprises of Anatomy, physiology, medicine, medical laboratory science, and a few other courses. I’m a student of the department of medical laboratory sciences and I had the highest CGPA amongst all the departments in the college.
So, when I’m walking around with my one million shoulder pads, hug me and squeeze money into my hands, because I went through a lot to get there, okay?
The amount of backbreaking hard work I do to achieve something is astounding because many things don’t come easy to me. I’m applauding myself for so many things 🥺.
Everytime I tell someone I got my internship within two months of applications, the usual response is, “Omo, you’re lucky o.” But what they don’t know is that within those two months, I saw shege 😭.
This is a straw man argument that deviates from what she said.
The notion that women should be provided for SOLELY because they’re women is based on the patriarchal notion that we’re the weaker sex, and hence “need to be taken care of.”
@Nimisire
This is simplistic though. Girls get groped in primary school and in marketplaces by boys and men they’ve never asked for shit. Even in countries where women have seen a tremendous boom in financial independence, male entitlement, incel culture and femicide is on the rise.
October was about letting go and receiving flowers. I spent too much time staying in breeding grounds for negative self-talk, I forgot that I had the option to leave. I’m grateful to this month for that realisation.
[3 stages of Zee world addiction]
Stage 1: Resistance
“What’s this trash? Abeg call me once it’s over”
2: Lowkey interest
“So they dunno that’s not the same man? Mtschew. Can’t watch this shit”
3: Surrender!!
“MUMMYYYY! Come fast, they want to reveal Tanuma’s real father”
One thing I’ve noticed about twitter is how people outsource their convictions.
Once a popular thought leader argues for/against something, the rest follows suit.
No one is the sole arbiter of knowledge/opinions guys, think for yourselves pls.
I’m excited to share that I got admitted into the two most prestigious universities in the world: the University of Harvard and the University of Oxford.
You don’t “love too much.” You’re a pushover who hasn’t established healthy boundaries and would bend over backwards, disrespecting yourself, to keep others happy. Heal 🥺.
Now I’ve realised: there are many people trying to participate in the erasure of my achievements, so many people who will prefer I cower and hang my head in shame, but I will never be one of those people again, ever.
The best gift I’ve gotten this year is my Mac. I carry it everywhere and it makes me feel like a ✨writer✨. When I search for evidence of God’s love, I see it in the people surrounding me 🥺.
I love this so much 🥺. It’s like when they’re together everything fades: colour, sound, other people. Every single thing. It’s just them at the centre of it all, holding hands. Nothing else matters. Just them. This. Is. Art.
This phase of my life is teaching me that not everything deserves my best. That doing the best I can doesn’t always mean giving something 100%. Sometimes it means doing what I can AFTER factoring in my priorities, time, rest and health.
Love is worth the inconvenience—I heard that on Twitter.
And it encapsulates how my father loves me. This year I fell sick, and I was in so much pain. The doctor recommended stronger pain medications, but what he recommended was so scarce to find.
I just remembered that one TV station interviewed me last week, and when I was done talking about my academic journey, they asked me to repeat everything in Yoruba 😭😭.