'I Broke My Teeth When I Started Skating' - YCT Female Skater Pours Her Heart Out!

Balikis Akodu

You don't find a female skating everyday. So it is only appropriate to acknowledge one when you bump into her. Check out this interview with Balikis Akodu, a passionate skater schooling in Yabatech Epe campus.

Hello Balikis

Hi

I noticed you love skating a lot so what made you take interest in that?

Actually I think it is fun like every other game but it can be hectic in the beginning. I broke my teeth when I started, but I did not give up. It is said that if you are trying to get something and it is very hard, don’t stop. Just make sure you get it. So that’s just it. I love it very much because it makes me smart. I don’t think I have much fat like other girls. This is due to the fact that I skate a lot. And it is fun.

Do you intend taking it up professionally after school?

Yes, I would like to have my own skating group, so as to bring up some set of people because people think it is something hard but I do tell them that it is something they can do. Don’t think because this thing is hard. I don’t see any difference between skating and riding a car or bicycle. When driving one may encounter dangers or accidents but that doesn’t stop you from driving your car. 

So as a female who enjoys skating, how do you feel? Do people look perceive you as being awkward? 

With this I think I have come across many people. They will see me and be like “Wooww!!”. I believe there is nothing a guy can do that a woman can’t do better. So I think in this society I have achieved a lot of friends. It’s because I am a female and I skate. I think I am the only female in this neighborhood doing so. I love it.

 

 

Why the Phobia for Lecturers?

By Ifeanyi ‘Fecko’ Ibegbunam 

Is it just me or are most students in Nigerian higher institutions somewhat scared of their lecturers? In the U.K for example (where I would have been studying if not for certain circumstances), it is difficult to differentiate a student from an academic staff due to the way they relate with one another. What do you expect when these folks pay over 3,000 pounds per session? Over there, it seem as though the lecturers work for the students. Same can be said of some private universities in Nigeria. 

Our case study is Yabatech, Epe campus. In my school it is a taboo for some lecturers to get to the class before the students. More so, only a couple of them entertain questions during lectures. The other day I could not help but laugh out loud when I saw a female student with a baby bump trying to outrun a lecturer. Thank God the pregnant lady did not miss the class after all. 

I decided to conduct a public poll as touching the topic and I asked my fellow students who their favourite lecturers were. Only two students answered me boldly while the rest chickened out. Hey, I would have done the same if I were in their shoes. Well, check out some of the responses bellow.

"I like the way Olayemi lectures. He has a nice smile too. I feel if you know what to do, you can get in his good books and stay there. Because of him, i held my first rabbit. Adebayo likes to think optimistically, he has a nice dress sense and he encourages everyone. He is like a father to me and i like the fact that he finishes his lectures on time. Both of them are almost alike." - Uchechukwu Okwara.

"I like Mr Balogun, because he's straight forward and transparent. Rosulu and Doctor Akinfemi also make my list" - Balikis Akodu.

"I'll tell you after my final exam, I don't want to come back for farm practice. YCT Epe campus is an advanced secondary school and the teachers and not lecturers this time use invisible cane on us." - Anonymous

"I don't have any favourite lecturer...I don't know why" - Tolani Banire

Seriously I miss my former Citizenship Education lecturer. He is the only academic staff I know in Yabatech that chops knuckle. Confam guy! Lol. As far as I am concerned, fear is a prison and the moment we stop perceiving our lecturers as deities or Greek gods, the closer we will get to them, and the more we would learn from these knowledgeable people. Just a thought!