Mom was really a unifier. Of all her children, I lived with her the longest, my other siblings lived with their paternal families; besides, my siblings were way older than me, the sister that I came after, Sabina, being a whopping seven years older than me. And yet, mom had a way of bonding us together, leading to such closeness between us. I did nursery and elementary school in Tema before attending Akosombo International School for my secondary education. I first realized my resilience as a student at Akosombo International School. Tiny as I was, my most prominent features were my eyes, I was an easy target for bullies. I recall one particular huge and tall senior who would often make comments about my huge eyes, and those seniors who took advantage of how emotional I was, would make sensitive comments because of which I would burst into tears. Then there was the fact that I was a playful child, and thus failed in my first year of secondary school, and had to repeat a class, at my mother’s insistence. In all these instances, my pride was pricked, my ego burst, my spirit kind of quenched, but I did not wallow in self-pity. I picked up myself and morphed from that wimpy, nerdy child, to a bubbly, can-do anything, well-focused and high-spirited senior who became the entertainment prefect in form four. It was therefore not surprising when I went to Archbishop Porter Girls’ School, a spanking new student in lower six, and was elected entertainment prefect. I probably brought my bubbly, entertainmentfocused self to the school. Perhaps, the attraction for the girls was my love for dressing up, or my knack for sneaking my makeup kit into school without being caught by the senior housemistress. Make up, which we would ‘steal’ ourselves to apply, as we went out on exeat days. I think the girls quite fancied my bravery. I brought some spunk, a tad of naughtiness to the prim and proper Catholic School. I was always the first to raise my hand, whenever we were asked to do cheerleading and it was not strange to see me actively taking part in jama sessions. Interestingly, one of the Catholic nuns in our school, Sister Mary, I picked up myself and morphed from that wimpy, nerdy child, to a bubbly, can-do anything, wellfocused and high-spirited senior who became the entertainment prefect in form four. My mother was my cheerleader, a shoulder to cry on, and a guide for the times when life-changing decisions needed to be made. “ “ 10 The Birthday Journal
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