The last days…..

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Who could have known, who would have told me, that in my lifetime I’d see that day?
It had been a stressful period of being scolded, insulted, barely sleeping or eating or having time to breath. I didn’t just want it to end but I wanted it to end well. And here I was, standing infront of this notice board, staring at what seemed to be my result. My God, I couldn’t believe it. They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step but my first step was 8 years ago and it seemed way more than a million miles with no end in sight. And now, I could call myself a final year medical student. Wow! My knees suddenly felt wobbly and I couldn’t breath. I have no adjective to describe how I felt. I just wanted to fall to my knees and raise my hands in worship to the one I knew made this possible, to call Him sweet names and tell Him how much I love Him.
Then, I knew I was ready to put in the last of my energy, determination, drive and focus into pushing through the next 8 months of my stay in this great institution, so as not to delay myself a second longer, for “the harvest is rich but the labourers in the medical field are few”, though I also knew that “the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but of Him that showeth mercy”.

Then boom, it happened, a pandemic.
I was lost. This was supposed to be my moment, I had prepared to finish strong and hand over the batton to another. Prior to this, there were other strikes which affected our studies though we forged ahead despite all odds. But now, we were asked to vacate the school premises.
‘No problem Rhoda, it will just be a week or two,’ I tried to console myself. But little did I know that it was going to be the longest year of my life.
A week turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and almost a year went by.
I was broken, I tried to survive. All my plans were stalled. Imagine being locked in a soundproof vacuum with your captors staring at you. And though you are screaming out your lungs, no passers-by can hear you and your captors jeer at you the whole time. It’s amazing how markets and churches and other recreational centers could be open and render their services but schools, whose members (students) were key participants at these other places, couldn’t be open. What a mess. What a shame.
Well, I’m a typical example of a lady who was helped by God. Though these oceans raged, he didn’t let me drown. And I came to see this day when schools are being reopened, though my class is yet to be asked to resume. But hopefully soon that will happen.
So I’m just here, trying to get my head back in the system, trying to get my drive, determination and focus back. So that I can hit this target once and for all.