Honest Question

Answer truthfully, believe me there are no judgements here.

Are you in one or more of the following situations?

1. Broke
2. Stressed/ Frustrated
3. Behind in schoolwork
4. Relationship issues

If yes, that means you have selected one or more of them, welcome to the struggle. All these states are the varieties of shege a student might experience now. The messy month is November.

A basic lowdown

According to research (yes, evidence dey)

A 2018 study by the American Psychological Association found that 81% of college students reported feeling overwhelmed by stress at least some of the time. It also found that more students most likely reported feeling stressed in the months of November and December.

Statistics or not, it is safe to say that there’s a shared collective of stress among us. A ubiquitous dread if you will.

Storytime

“Story, story, Once upon a time…..”

This is a narrative entry of individuals all going through it this month. (May you read and be entertained)

A Tale of lost chargers and bruised knees

(Korede’s Pov)

November started almost immediately with immense frustration. It began with dyeing my hair. For a while now, my hair has been blonde (frosty). As soon as the month started, I tried booking an appointment with my regular hair stylist, but something was always happening with getting one. I should have taken that as a divine sign from God (Sky Daddy). The fateful day I got it done; it was a sh*tshow. Now, I must deal with patches of brown on my blonde hair. That was just a teaser from all my struggles this month. Days later, my original type-c to lightning charger stopped working out of nowhere. Then, of course, inexplicable expenses began to appear all over the place. I misplaced my earbuds, which is something I never do. Imagine wanting to listen to music and painfully remembering that you have nothing to listen to it with. As if it wasn’t enough, I tripped and scrapped my knee, and it still hasn’t healed in a week. The crowning frustration was when the gas at my apartment finished. I had just come back home after a long Monday of exhausting classes. I was ready to make some banging Jollof Rice (five-star chef things) with some grilled chicken to cool my mind. The shock hit me hard. Combine all of that with unending projects, assessments, and tests. I am done with everything concerning November. Men no mount this month. At all. Sighhhh.

A Tale of fallen expectations and endless bills

(Esset’s pov)

I started November thinking, “This is gonna be a great month” because I had been saving and hoped to spend on myself a little, but little did I know that the plans it had for me were of evil and not for good. Omo! November wan choke me!! (it reach to use to exclamation marks). It started out small with an annoying test. I did pretty okay, but made a few avoidable mistakes which pissed me off. On the “bright side“, I was told by my parents that I’d be receiving a laptop which made me feel better. I didn’t know that actually getting the laptop would be another wahala. On a faithful Monday morning, I received a call that my device was arriving. The Lord knows the joy I had in my heart that day. The tracking website showed that it’d be arriving the next day, and like that, a two-week battle to get my laptop began. I was sending documents back and forth and receiving late replies concerning them. Those people would disturb you for a document, and when you send it, there would be no reply! And remember the money I was planning to use and spoil myself? Yeah, that vanished, too from paying customs fees. I finally got my laptop, all the stress finally paid off, and I can now rest. RIGHTT!!? Two days later, I put my phone in my pocket, and the screen stopped working just like that. No fall damage, no pressure applied. It’s completely blank but I’m still receiving notifications. The phone containing all my bank apps, important documents. Worst of all, all attempts to unlock or backup data fail. That’s how it all ended: with no money and a dead phone. What a month!

Why it all sucks

If you think about it, there are better school months than November. I said what I said. There are just a lot of things going on with it, to add school stuff. For instance, it’s the test month. The anxiety that comes with reading and attempting tests is the worst. This time of the year has a way of turning your aspirations to make an academic comeback into academic victimisation. It’s too much packed into 31 days. And yes, the world is preparing for the end-of-the-year festivities, so everything gets much more expensive.

Lessons Learnt

I don’t know about you, but a repeat of November is never going to happen like that. Ever.

The most important thing to consider for a particularly hectic period such as this is effective planning. Be it studying adequately, budgeting according to situations or generally having a failsafe, these help with avoiding stressful situations. Knowing when to take a break and chill out is key. Na student you be, you no kill person.

As we head into the merriest period in the year, we’re sending you all love, light and peace. Get ready for a lot of exciting content from us!

Brief explanation

Shege – Akin to struggle or suffering

Men no mount – inability to show yourself or capabilities. In reference to artist Shallipopi’s “Men mount oh.”

Wahala – problem