First Day @ QC

It was November 4, 1996. This was no ordinary day; it was a new beginning for Yemi Benson. She was finally starting secondary school at Queen’s College, Yaba Lagos. She had waited for several weeks for this day. The admission process into Queen’s College had been very difficult for several reasons.

Queen’s College was one of the prestigious federal government colleges in the country; housing and training the brightest girls in Nigeria. The school was ranked among the top five secondary schools in Nigeria; it had a record of having the best Junior Secondary School Examination (JSSCE) and West African School Certificate Examination results (WSSCE).

At that time, everybody wanted their daughter to attend Queen’s College. Admission into Queen’s College was very competitive. Like any other Federal government school, students could be admitted into Queen’s College by two methods. By writing a competitive National Common Entrance exam, where students are given admission into federal government secondary school of their choice based on their performance of the examination. The second method involved applying through the Federal Ministry of Education for a transfer into Queens College in JSS2 and SS1.

In Yemi Benson’s case, her family had just relocated to Nigeria from the United States that October. She was 11 years old and she had just started the 7th grade, equivalent of JSS1. Unfortunately for her, the National Common Entrance Examination was written only in April and she had missed that opportunity. There were two options for her at time, either wait another year or write the National Common Entrance Examination the following April or apply for a transfer to JSS2.
Yemi’s Benson’s parents chose the second option. Attending Queens College had been her Mother’s dream. It was where all the girls in her mother’s family had attended. Her grandmother, mother, aunty and female cousins had all attended Queen’s College. And her mother did not want her to be any different or left out from getting her education from the best female secondary school in Nigeria.

The admission process was not very straight forward. It was not entirely based on academic performance but also based on your connections. Her aunty knew somebody in the Federal Ministry of Education who said that they could help with the admission if her family were willing to pay a N75, 000 fee. After paying the fee and after weeks and weeks of waiting and going to the Federal Ministry of Education, Yemi’s Benson Admission letter finally came in on Thursday, October 31, 2006.

That Thursday evening, Mr. Lanre Benson came home excited from work and said, “God has answered our prayers. Yemi you are going to Queen’s College. Your admission letter along with your boarding house accommodation came in today”

“Thank you Jesus” her mother shouted

Yemi looked very indifferent. She did not understand what the fuss was about. There were so many other schools in Lagos including private ones, why had parents not just sent her to one of those.

“My daughter, you don’t look very excited. Don’t you know that you are going to get the best education from the best and most experienced teachers in the country?”

“Mommy I am happy. At least I get to go to school; I have been sitting at home ever since we moved back”

“Good. Don’t worry you will like Queens College. You know that is where I went to school. All your cousins are there. “

Lanre Benson butted in “Anyway Ireti the admission letter came with boarding house accommodation.”

“ Daddy I want to go to the boarding house. It will be a good experience”

“Honey, I don’t think we should send her to the boarding house. I feel that she will have a lot to adjust to and it would good to monitor her academic progress from home
The academic system in the US and Nigeria are quite different"

“ Ireti I agree with you. Anyway you guys should be prepared to go to the school tomorrow. The admission letter says that you will need to pick up her books from the school book store and pay the school fees at the bursar’s office. You will also need to buy her school uniforms from the school tailor in Onikan.”

“That should be easy, I am sure the school has not changed much since I attended.”

So that Monday morning, Yemi woke up at 5:30am. She said her prayers and wore her ironed blouse and pinafore. She picked up the beret and looked at it in a weird way and wondered why they had chosen a funny looking blue cap with a QC logo for a school cap.

That morning, at the family breakfast with her brother, sister and parents her father spoke to her
“ My dear, I hope you enjoy the first day of school. Remember that you will have a lot of catching up to do. You have missed JSS1. That is an entire academic year. You are also joining your classmates in the middle of the first term of JSS2. Examinations will soon be approaching. So try and get notes from your classmates"

“ Yes Daddy. I know, I will work as hard as I can”

“ Lanre don’t worry , I am sure she will make us proud.”

“ Good Ireti, I want you to take her to school on her first day. I will take Bode and Funmi to school. I want you guys to go early so you can beat the early morning traffic."

“Yes dear, we will head out in the next fifteen minutes”


“ Lets pray then”

After the family prayer, Yemi and her Mom headed for the car and drove to Yaba. The drive to Yaba from Lekki should was a 45 minute drive. That morning Yemi was quite nervous. She did not know what to expect. During the visit to Queen’s College the previous Friday, to pay her fees and pick up her books, she had learnt a lot about the school. She was already feeling overwhelmed. Every JSS2 student was enrolled in sixteen subjects. The subjects included: mathematics, English integrated science, (physics, chemistry, Biology), Yoruba, intro to technology, agricultural science, music, fine arts, business studies, social studies, commerce (shorthand and typewriting), home economics, clothing and Textiles, Christian Religious Studies and French. To her, that was a lot of classes to be enrolled in. In the US, she had taken eight subjects at a time.

Her Mom had also filled her in on how she had to respect seniors even those just a year above her. She was told that these seniors could send her on a errand or even punish her. Yemi was not looking forward to any of this.
“Why should a senior send me around anyway?” She pondered

As they approached the front gate of the school, her mother spoke

“ Yemi, everything may look very challenging but don’t worry I know you will make us proud.”

“ Yes Mommy. I will try”

Her Mom drove into school compound and pointed the location of the junior block . Yemi walked to the Junior block and climbed the stair to JSS2.

To be CONTD!