My Dear Old Alma Mater
I had cause to visit Queens College today for official reasons. Driving down to QC felt very strange. On one hand, I hadn't been to QC in a long while, but on the other I recalled the way back like I still make the journey everyday.QC itself has changed a lot. New buildings have sprouted all over the compound to accomodate the population spike that the school experienced through much of the 1990s. I hear things have since stablised, but the end result is class sizes of about 100 girls per class. Compare this to the 45 to 50-odd girls we had in my time.
Revisiting places from my past always brings up wierdly-mixed emotions in me - combinations of nostalgia, disbelief (at how fast time has moved and just how much has changed in the intervening period), sadness (at how much older I'm getting and from an inexplicable feeling that I'll never again have so much fun in my life) and happiness (if I have great memories from that time). Luckily, I have wonderful memories of QC, but looking back, I wish I had a lot more fun than I did. (I wish this also when I remember my time at university and primary school too.) I always want to make the best of whatever experiences I've had - which is great! The result though is that I'm often very serious about the things I do and miss-out on a lot of fun that I could have had. Of course, said realisations only come afterwards. (That 20-20 hindsight is a muther!!!)
Now, how's this for a strange co-incidence. This very same day, my sister and I both received a text message about a ball being organised by and for QC old girls. AND I read about it in the latest issue of City People. It's billed as the event of the year. Tickets are, apparently, almost sold-out (at a modest =N=10,000 a pop). The ball is to be held next Saturday, but I'm just hearing about it TODAY????
9 comments:
Yay for QC! I didn't go there, but my mom taught there, so I lived on campus. She may even have taught you...No I am not going to tell you who she is!!
Awwwww! Come on! At least tell me what subject she taught. And the years she was there - it may have been before or after my time there.
Hi,
I didn't get the oportunity to attend QC ( to my mother's eternal chargrin. Till Date she feels that i was somehow shortchanged by not attending according to her "the finest girls' school in Nigeria")
But my little sister does. She's currently in SS2. From her first day at QC i watched my gangly, shy little sister slowly evolve into a beautiful articulate young lady.I've watched and encouraged her talents come out and blossom. its such a beautiful thing to behold. When i was much younger (but out of secondary) my sister and i used to wonder what it was about QC girls. I remember us looking at each other puzzled and saying to each other "it must be something they teach them" ... sign!!!!. Its like a signature on every girl thats beeen there. Its something i could never find the words to explain. Its like they take young girls and bring out the very best in them.
Well knowing that you went to QC and seeing that your blog is sooooooooo good.
i can only say "its that thing they teach in QC"
Lucky You.
I can't tell you what she taught either! i think I was 4 when we started living there, so that was 1986. She retired in 2000. At one point she was a housemistress. Mystery...
@ Adunni, I don't know what it is about QC either, but I have often felt that if i had gone there, I would have left sec schl with a lot more self esteem (went to a mixed preppy schl). All my friends after sec schl were QC girls and I found them to be very confident and smart.
Yes, Everchange, 'mystery' is right. Well, it's a small world......
I don't know what it is about QC. Well, I should know - I went there. First off, QC attracted the cream of the crop (not to be arrogant or anything). And then, all this ettiquette and standards were drilled into us. Since I was there (and not anywhere else), I can't really compare it to any other school.
Ah QC! Do you still have your uniforms? I still have my form 3 crossing over pinafore with signatures from all my friends on it! I must confess, I still use my bedspread, I got in when the standard issue bedspread changed from adire to check material. My ambition for the duration of my stay was to inherit one of those adire bedspreads, alas!
Wow! I haven't got anything from my QC days, except for some notebooks that I passed on to my sister. She assured me that the notes given by many of the teachers in her time were almost the same as what I had - and in some cases (like Economics) the notes were the same, word-for-word!
I wonder of SS1 students are still hearing about the boy who was sent to study economics abroad. And upon returning to his village, shocked and amazed the villagers and his family (Waow!! they all exclaimed) that he went all the way abroad to study how to become a miser.
Oh my! Another QCOG! :grin:
You are too? We seem to be all over the place.
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