Life was rosy according to my siblings until mother earth parted in mystery. I never enjoyed the caring attitude oozing from a mother. My dad never returned to Port Harcourt town after that and that was how I ended up in my hamlet as a village champion who spent his nursery, primary and secondary school in the village and you know what it means to live a village life,a life of no academic competition.
Though in my early life in primary school I had a dream to become a prolific engineer despite all the odds.
Fast forwarding the topic, at my Junior Secondary School,there were no learning ropes for us to enrol in Physics class as it’s a prerequisite subject for engineering. Our School never had a school Physics subject teacher. A Math teacher was just assisting us on transient in form 4 and I learned in little ways to find my own way.
So,immediately at Jss 3 class(form 3), knowing that I was in a world of bushes,with my cutlass I cut the crap and began to dig my own path. I started with Nelkon Advanced Physics at my disposal because “I’m the tough when the going gets tough”.
That is one reason they call me Athan.
I told myself to be a master I must know every topic,practise and solve every question in the exercise.
I immersed myself into deep studies,practised exercises as a voracious reader. That was where my deep thinking and reasoning began. Before I got to the SS3 class I had covered 3 different textbooks on Physics.
A remarkable day came which I will never forget. I encountered a practice problem in one of the topics on Physics: Heat.
It took me 7 days to solve. I had a conviction to solve every problem I encounter on my way.
On the day of perfection, That night on my bed,as I was just going through the problem in my mind,I even have a Poem: “The real world in my mind”, I slept off. In my dream,I had a dream clever by half, where I got my inspiration to write a poem: “A dream clever by half”. I solved the problem in my dream and I woke up immediately to start having a day dream until I got the solution to the problem.
I was convinced to tell my colleague then, his Nickname: Newton that solving the problem had made me a master in Physics. That was how Physics became part of my life and will be as I live.
To prove my mastery, I wrote different exams on Physics not just for me alone and the results were all A1s. It’s on record.
With that,I got another inspiration for another powerful poem: “Building Calluses on every side”. It’s all there on Google search engine when you type the name: Athan Oparaji! Or you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook to read them. I have a lot to sprinkle to mankind. What’s driving me is unfathomable,I can’t even explain it,so please don’t look at the vessel but what’s in the vessel.
I built calluses on every side and the tough things became easy as I became mastery of every side.
Finally,I enrolled into Federal University of Technology Owerri,the best university in the world because we were given little and we optimized,the world of great minds to achieve my dream as a competent prolific engineer. I studied one of the toughest and vast engineering courses, though we were in a maze at some point,we still came out with a big maize: great success.
Athan Oparaji is a trained Engineer, Poet & Creative Picturesque Writer
…Not for yourself alone!
I wrote different exams not just for me alone here means : I wrote different exams to prove my mastery, not to actually use them but for others to be inspired. Thanks for your comment!