Even If It's Little, It Matters.

This is my response to "Weekend-engagement post topics 77: Influential" You can also join the challenge here.

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Special shout out to @galenkp for this opportunity to share... It keeps getting better every week.

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Topic:

Describe a situation in which you positively influenced someone - Who was it and in what way did you influence them, how did they accept it and what was the outcome.

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I finished my service year in Kwara State in 2009 after I was posted there. A lot of people said I was lucky because I wasn't sent to another state that might be far. Kwara is just 3 hours away from where I used to live then; Ibadan in Oyo State but it would take me another 2 hours from where they would drop me at the park to get to my place of Primary Assignment.

For those that are not aware of what a service year means, it's a mandatory 1 year posting to another state after graduation to explore the rich culture of other states and to bond with those who are not in your ethnic group or class. It's a way of serving and also helping because you will be posted to mostly rural places and help develop it in a way.

I am grateful for my time there because it prepared me for what was to come after. I was posted to a secondary school where I would teach Economics and the students there prefer farming to going to school and only a few of them came to class. I was more determined to get my message across and it was there I knew that I could get across to people easily.

After service year, I went back to my state with no hope of where the next job would come from. Those familiar with Nigeria can tell you that unemployment rates are high even with how rich the country is in resources and human capital. You have to keep fighting for yourself and the interview that came then, just 2 months after the service year, was to teach. With the experience I had then, I knew I could do it even though teaching is not as easy as it is. You have assignments to give, reading to do, and even many classes to teach. Here in Nigeria, a teacher can take as many classes as possible and I was taking 8 different classes with so many markings to do.

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[Source]

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I didn't let the standard of my teaching drop based on the workload and I kept giving myself to it. I was always busy but still created enough time for my students when they come calling. They got so fond of me that anytime they have a free period even when I have been up to date on what to teach them, they come to the staff room to drag me to teach them even if another teacher had already booked for their free time and it was the same all across the various classes I taught.

I was humbled when one of my students then reached out to me a few years ago and apart from so many of their words of appreciation, this one stood out for me. I am still in contact with most of them though. This particular student reached out to me, John Olopade, that's his name. He sent a lengthy message on WhatsApp telling me how I taught with passion and how I made Economics understandable and that was why he went to the University to study Economics also and he was in his 2nd year then. I felt this excitement deep within me and I was happy.

He is a graduate now and has gone for his service year as well and I couldn't have been more proud that my little effort of teaching what I was paid to do, he saw beyond it because I don't just teach them, I spoke with them as though they were my younger ones and personally, he took it to heart and he went to study Economics because of me. He said I inspired him to study Economics.

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[Source]

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Another one I would love to talk about was this lady I met in the cab. I didn't know she was new in my city then. I just entered the cab because I was running late to Church already. It was a special service in Church then and because I didn't want to miss anything from that service, I started streaming the service on the go.

In my city, the cab drivers would have two people sit at the front while there at the back. The front seat is always inconvenient because it was designed for one but two people had to manage there. I sat at the front with this young lady and I felt the nudge to pay for her fare. I asked her where she was going and she obliged me without even knowing why I asked.

I was looking where I would alight right ahead and I paid for myself and then her. She thanked me and I kept watching my service online. She just tapped me and asked which Church that was and I told her and the fact that I can we actually heading for service. She didn't plan it, she wasn't prepared, she just told me she would love to attend service with me. I was really excited. We both dropped at my junction and then took a bike to Church together while I helped her with her bags. She said she was new in the city and was already thinking in her heart which Church she would start going to.

I was happy because that simple act of kindness drew her to me and it made her also get her answer of which Church to attend, fulfilled. She was still attending my Church before I finally left Ibadan for Lagos. I still speak with her to date and I couldn't have been more happier.

I have so many of these inspiring stories but let me draw the curtain on this one right here.

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Thank you for your time.

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My pen doesn't bleed, it speaks, with speed and ease.

Still me,

My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.

Olawalium; (Love's chemical content, in human form). Take a dose today: doctor's order.