The Diary Game || 16-02-24 || Celebrating my Friends Matriculation into the University...

_{picture of my matriculating friend and I}

Dear Diary,
A wonder way to end a Friday it was. The biggest day in the lives of those who just got admitted into the university. I was a opportune to be invited by a number of friends especially my friend who had been looking for this admission for years after many failed attempts. It was their day no doubt. My job was to give them perfect shots and share in their joy. Guess what happened during the matriculation? I was shocked to my bones on what happened and the people I saw. The below has the narrative.

Morning Activities

In the early hours of morning, I woke up at my usual time which doesn't exceed 6Am. I did my chores that morning so I'll be available for other things that were to come. While carrying out my chores, my friend who was actually matriculating that day came to me in request for something. After spending some time with him, he left and I left as well and then considered the scriptures with my family which made emphasis on this.

The emphasis was on how we can be trustworthy the way our God is trustworthy. This trustworthiness is the backbone of one's personality. If you're not trustworthy, you become an enemy to a lot of people. After considering these scriptures, I took to visiting my friend who returned the previous day. I was so happy seeing him as it has been a month plus.

When I returned from the visit, I made preparations to go to the event of which I was invited. Before making necessary preparations, I stumbled on a popular kid who seems to be smaller than his age. The kid you're seeing on your screen is 9 years old and from the rumours that reached my ears, it is noticed the boy is subjected to neglect and has been abandoned by his parents.

Why did I say he's popular? He's the people's errand boy of which I don't know why a small boy like this would be an errand boy. This boy has walked the earth I must say and can you imagine he can carry firewood on his head and trek from miles to miles without getting tired?. I do feel pity for him though. I took my breakfast in no time and headed to the event arena.

Guess what my eyes could see? After alighting from a vehicle down to the venue which happened to be my campus, the entrance scared me. Come and see crowd of people as if they were going for a live show. I wasn't surprised though. It happens in everydaymatriculation ceremony on campus but it was quite shocking to see the growing difference and number.

There was a serious traffic from the gate down to where the canopies were staked. Normally, it's always done in a hall but because of that particular matriculation, canopies were staked outside the school's open field so as to **accommodate parents and children. The traffic was due to impatience and lack of coordination. Another major factor was that a parent's car broke down in the middle of the road.

Those in their vehicles were already discouraged because they were waiting for hours inside before they were able to get to the parking lot. Some parents couldn't wait again. Some had to park their vehicles by the roadside and start trekking while others had to look for the nearest U-turn to exit the venue. One of my friend's parents who invited me left when they got a chance to and couldn't make It to the venue. They allowed their children who were matriculating trek to the venue so as not to miss anything.

The parking lot was another serious commotion. Parents were entering and some were leaving, another major cause of the traffic. I arrived safely no doubt but was scared of the crowd. I heard that over 50k students from the two merged sets 022 and 023 matriculated that day. The difference is shown below, between my set and this set.

020 set ✅	022 and 023 set ❌
Single set	Merged set
19k matriculating students	50k matriculating students
#3000 for matriculation gown	#6000 for matriculation gown
45-50k as school fees	105-120k as school fees
1000 capacity	Open field as venue

I really feel for this merged set as everything is just jam-packed on them and the school is really stressing them out. I stumbled on my friend while looking for the people who invited me as I couldn't reach them on phone.

Afternoon Activities

I met him on coincidence and some of my friends who happened to be my classmates in secondary school. I took pictures with them as I was so happy meeting them in person. Congratulations and happy matriculation were the major greetings used there. I strolled with my friend @brightoekeh as we tried looking for ways to reach others. On our way looking for those that invited us, we stumbled on my friend's coursemates. They were happy seeing him and took pictures with them as well.

After taking the necessary, we stumbled on a game of which my friend thought of giving it a try. I tried severally but couldn't get it. On his last trial, he flipped and threw the rope which entangled two wines. I was just happy for him as he was too. All of a sudden, this coursemate of his came from nowhere and started demanding for the wine as if she gave him to keep custody. I was paranoid at her behaviour. Even when capturing both of them, her face and mind were fixed on that wine.

I just told my friend to give her as he wanted giving me one from the two. I saved her embarrassment. My friend and I did share the other wine together. Then, I stumbled on @uduak3287. His sister was matriculating that day. The smile on his face and hers was just boundless. They took pictures no doubt and I was their photographer so to speak.

		Photo album

As I was capturing moments with them, @emmyjnr showed up. I was happy seeing him in person as he also invited me. We did all the moments together and had the best of fun we could ever have. I then left them for another inviteee who happens to be my Christian brothers. I captured them most and their friends as well. I then stumbled on @imohmitch and @johnmitchel who happened to be my greatest motivation that day. I left in good faith after all was said and done.

Photo album

I left for a special invitation to celebrate my friend who happens to be ** my neighbour and best buddy**. His family invited me to join them in one hotel named Akmag. This hotel is actually unknown to me. I never knew such beautiful place could be found here. He directed me though and this hotel is quite close to the known doctor's maze.

On getting there, I received a kind of treatment that I less expected by his parents. They welcomed me with open arms and told me to pick anything I wanted. I could never make such mistake again the way I did some years back when I was told to choose what I wanted to eat. I called the waiter and ordered for;

Hollandia [Big size]

• Two bottles of Star radler
• Two packaged chin chin
• 2 plates of meat etc

3000 naira Suya

Why did I take so much? Emphasis was that I should take anything at all and that I should feel free. So I did what was asked. This is me drinking one bottle of Hollandia myself I even took it home 😁. After much discussion with my friend's parent, I took to capturing him. These are the shots I gave him. While giving him perfect shots, someone stumbled on me asking me if I can give them shots as well.

I was very much free to do so. I gave them shots before taking pictures with my friend's family and relatives. Much was spent that day to my surprise. After doing the needful, we went for another round of drinks of which we were given advice on how to be useful in school and be careful as well. This advice wasn't for me though. The matriculating students have exams on Monday so they have to prepare.

After spending so much time in this hotel, my friend took me to another popular mall to eat. When you're balling with men them, be smart or you'll regret. This is a picture of the mall we entered and inside the mall, we went to Kilimanjaro to eat. My friend told me to order anything. This is the second time I'm offering freewill. He took spaghetti and fried chicken with salad. I took;

A plate of Chinese rice
Fried chicken
Chivita and bottle water

We spent so much time there while I did editing as well as eating. It was late in the night so we had to head home. He told me to take something back home. I didn't want to take much again as I already bill him much. I took;

• Two popcorn
• Hollandia yoghurt
• Grilled chicken

There's a saying, Enjoy the moment while it lasted. That's what I did. I appreciated him for all the spending and for his matriculation into the university. I left home with him as he's my neighbour and then arrived home by 9Pm. I was so tired that I went to bed. The heat nearly killed me at night but I survived the night