LIFE DIARY || MY CAMP EXPERIENCE

Hey Lovelies!!!

How’s your week going? I hope y’all are having a stress free week so far? 
Well, mine has been a bit stressful so far. I’m currently adjusting to my new schedule.

Swearing In

In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to share details about my camp experience, the exciting and not so exciting events. This post should have been up earlier than now but unsolved PPA business took up so much of my time but I finally decided to make out time to write it. I’ll try to keep it very simple.

Before I continue, I’ve some good news to share. 

*Drum rolls*

 I finally resolved all my PPA business, believe me it wasn’t easy but God had a special package that he prepared for me all along and I’m glad it all worked out. Cheers!!!!!

Swearing In

Let’s get started.

I’ll start by saying Nysc is an overrated experience, believe me it is. My reason for sharing this post is not to discourage y’all about the program but really to prepare you for it and also share my experience. My aim is not to scrutinize the program but to enlighten my lovely readers.

Let’s dig into the deets…..

PRINTING MY CALL UP LETTER

I was so excited to print my call up letter. I believe I was excited because I was tired of waking up every day and having nothing to do. Also, I had already lost count of the numerous times that the program had been postponed. *Sighs* I believe most of us can totally relate with this. Stream II, I feel your pain big time.

Printing my call up letter, I guess gave me hope in the program again because believe me I already lost hope and was praying and still praying that they cancel the program. 
Forgive me for this statement, I believe it might sound so insensitive but Nysc is a complete waste of a year, or better still a big set up by the Government. I’ll suggest you take your time to decide how you want to adequately use your time and skills for the next one year.

 

I was posted to Ogun state and I was so excited because my sister had teased me severally that I would end up in one of the northern states. 

Reading my call up letter gave me so much relief because I can proudly laugh at her that she was wrong after all.  I had exactly three days to start preparing before leaving for camp. I had to start shopping because I didn’t have any camp wares.* lol* I didn’t bother to shop earlier because I already lost hope and didn’t think I was going to camp anytime soon.

 I heard so many fun stories from people about Ogun state camp that I couldn’t wait to leave for camp already. I was counting down to the big day. Little did I know that a lot had changed about the camp and these people only chose to share their fun stories with me. If only I had bothered to ask about the unexciting events, things would have been a lot easier for me.

Now holl up people.
Don’t let me be a buzz kill. I actually had a fun time at camp. In case you might be thinking it was all bad, it wasn’t.

Platoon Man"O" War Drills

THE FUN PART ABOUT CAMP

•  Mammy market- This is what we call the local market in camp. It is sometimes spelt as “Mami” or “Mammy”. Well, I don’t even know which is more correct. Mammy market is the bubbling place in every camp.A better description of Mammy is that it is a market that comprises of different shops in one location. Now if you are coming to camp or you have passed through that phase already you know that you can exhaust your whole money at mammy. Mammy market will suck your pocket dry if you don’t discipline yourself. My advice for those coming to camp, pls make sure you come with all the essentials to avoid buying everything at Mammy market.

 

•  OBS Crew- OBS means Orientation Broadcasting Studio.  Let me explain something quickly. As a Corp member you are required to join at least one group during your stay in camp. Examples of social groups you find in camp include; Red Cross society, OBS, Man ‘O’ War, Drama group, Social club, cultural, Martial arts, etc. I decided to join the OBS. It wasn’t as easy as I thought at all since I didn’t study Mass Com or any art related course. I had to attend an interview and later I was asked to submit an article within a very short deadline but guess what I made the last cut. Now, the process is not the same in every camp and the only reason why it was this way in my camp was because a lot of people auditioned so they had to conduct different screening. The OBS Crew made my stay in camp worthwhile, they were so hospitable and they taught me so much. They were like a second family for me and I miss them so much.

• My Room mates- NYSC camp taught me a very important lesson(s). I had to live in a room with 41 strangers for a total of two weeks and two days. Before camp, I have never lived in a hostel. I had to prepare myself before leaving for camp, I completely changed my mind set about sharing and I tried to be more patient, tolerant and open-minded. It actually paid off because two weeks and two days with 41 strangers from different states wasn’t so bad after all.

•   My Camp Buddies (Iloya, Chisom, Kemi) - I made a couple of friends in camp. Most of my camp buddies were people that I was already friends with before camp. A lot of my school mates were also posted to Ogun state so I had a lot of familiar faces around and they made my stay in camp fun and a lot easier.

Platoon Man "O" War Drills

 

THE NOT SO FUN PART

•    The Early morning wake-up call- For those of us that love to sleep especially in the morning, well you know how frustrating it is when you are enjoying your sleep and someone comes to wake you up. The beagle was used to wake us up and summon us for all our camp activities. A beagle is like a big whistle, it looks like a horn or trumpet usually blown to summon us. I hated the sound because it was a reminder that fun “O” clock was over.

• Man “O” War Drills- I guess I can also list this under the fun part of camp. It wasn’t so bad, I just got tired after a couple of days plus having to do drills with sore feet under the scorching sun didn’t sound like fun anymore. Early morning drills was the only part I enjoyed, I enjoyed the crazy songs we were taught during drills, the exercises and games that was conducted. Afternoon drills were the worst. My advice would be to ensure you do everything possible to avoid marching under the hot sun.  As a recovering Corp member, I believe every other Corp member especially those from the north can attest to the effectiveness and efficiency of this sun.

• The Boring Lectures- I believe I didn’t mention this earlier so I’m going to say this before I continue. Life in Ogun state camp is fully regimented. We had a time-table, activities were strictly controlled and monitored and our officials made sure they reminded us of this every time. Lectures in camp were taken very seriously. For someone with a perfect lecture attendance I can gladly tell you how annoying these lectures were but since I promised to keep it simple I’ll save the deets for another post, maybe?

•  The Soldiers- I have to say I was really surprised when I got to camp and saw how friendly the soldiers were, at least they were most of the time and other times they were a thorn in my flesh. I got into trouble a couple of times, one time my tag was seized by the commander, other times I was asked to do frog jump. I don’t want to bore y’all with the details but basically some of the soldiers were so friendly especially my platoon commander. He was always teasing me because I had the biggest waist pouch in camp. Trust me having a big waist pouch came with some benefits*winks*

Thanks for reading guys, feel free to ask any questions. You can also share your own experience or your thoughts on my post by leaving your comments below. I look forward to reading and replying all your comments.

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