Posted by Odogwu Cynthia Chika on November 13, 19101 at 15:22:36:
My name is Cynthia Chika Odogwu; I am the only daughter of the four children of my parents. I was born on the 29th of March 1985. On all my birthdays, I have lots of fun as my parents say that my birth brought joy to them. Whenever it is my birth month, I look forward to it in great anticipation, because I am always sure there is something in store for. This was the case on my last birthday, but my joy was turned as a very sad event occurred.
On the 29th of March 2001, I had prepared my mind that there will be fun for me, I tried as much as possible to do everything right. As it was the normal custom in my house, the morning prayers were said and everyone wished me a happy day. I received gifts from all members of my family, including my grandmother who gave me a very beautiful homemade handkerchief. I was very happy about the gifts I was given at home; I then had it in mind that my day was going to be splendid, until I got to school to face the contrary.
At school, my friends and some teachers greeted me with many cheers. I was too happy when I saw people from different angles showering me with gifts. It was in my excess joy that I faltered and went against the school rules of not eating cakes with icing and bottled wine. The cakes and bottle of wine were gifts given to me by my friends, and so I decide to share it out to make the jubilation complete.
Everyone was excited to the peak, there were students jumping on the tables and chairs to make sure they got something. Some people were singing and shouting at the top of their voices while others made drums out of their tables. It was a very chaotic scene, there was complete lawlessness, and it was in this vain that one of the strictest teachers in my school, Mr. Penguin, came out from his office, which was a few rooms from my class to pacify the air. Some students were lucky enough to see him on time and so ran away.
Mr. Penguin came in and asked what was going on, but no one could explain. He then walked towards my table, where a crowd had already gathered and he could now see what was the cause of the noise. He asked once again what was going, no one seemed to summon up the courage to explain, and so I stood up to tell him what was going on. He then sent out abusive words to all of us, this made me feel so bad, in fact I thought it was the worst day in my life. Mr. Penguin then made us kneel down all day in the sun and on the gravels, and he took me to the staff room where other teachers abused and derided me terribly.
This was a day never to be forgotten, I cried so hard that my eyes were blood red. I refused to talk to anyone as I sulked all through. This was a joyous event turned sour indeed.