MY DIARY GAME: FRIDAY JOURNAL;First Time Sharing in the Group[4/7/2025]

I woke up today at past 6am, but unlike most mornings, I didn’t get up immediately. Normally, I don’t like touching my phone the moment I wake, but this morning felt different. I stayed in bed till after 8am, lying on the top bunk, scrolling through my phone. Truth is, I can’t even pinpoint what I was doing exactly—I just knew I didn’t wake up right. I felt heavy, like I was in my feelings.

Today’s Friday—the start of the weekend. I had plans of going home to restock some food items because I’m currently out of foodstuffs here in school. But lying there, I knew I didn’t want the whole day to go like that. So I dragged myself up, walked to the entrance of the room where we use the iron bar for pull-ups, and did a few rounds. I felt weak and reluctant at first, but I pressed on regardless.

Though I felt a bit lighter afterward, it still wasn’t enough to fully shake off the mood—until something beautiful happened. I checked my phone and saw that someone had sent me money. It wasn’t a lot, but it came at just the right time—especially since I hadn’t asked for it. In that moment, all the gloom lifted. I was genuinely happy. I even told my roommates and bragged a little, saying, “Make una go find friend like my own.”

Just before that, one of my roommates had been complaining about airtime and asking if anyone could help. Still riding on the joy of the alert, I asked for his number and recharged his line. For me, that was when my day truly began.

I quickly used part of the money to subscribe my line since the data had exhausted earlier while I was stuck on the bed. Then I went downstairs and got bread and milk so I could at least make tea later.

Like I said, it wasn’t much money, but it covered my needs perfectly. And honestly, I was just grateful. I called the person and thanked them sincerely—it meant a lot.

I had class at 10am. At 10:06, I was just stepping into the bathroom to bathe. I was clearly running late, but I didn’t feel stressed. After bathing and dressing, I left the hostel by 10:41 and headed to class.

As expected, it being Friday, class attendance was low. Two groups presented today. I had done mine last week—Friday, June 27th—and even posted about it on @Steem Cameroon (you can check it out on my profile). One of the groups today really impressed the lecturer and earned themselves 3 extra marks—1 more than my group. I couldn’t even hate. They did well.

When the attendance sheet started going around, a few of my friends who weren’t present asked me to write their matric numbers. I would have, normally, but the class was visibly scanty and I knew the lecturer could easily notice. Plus, this same lecturer had once caught me before and warned me seriously. I wasn’t ready for another round, so I wrote only my name. In the end, he didn’t even call the names, but just to be safe, I later added just one of the absentees.

After class, I exchanged a few greetings and left for the hostel. On getting there, I undressed, cleared and arranged my bunk since I’d be away for the weekend. I prepared something to eat, sat down to relax, and tried playing game on my phone—but wow, it was like I lost all my skill. I kept losing every match like a total amateur. I just dropped the phone and let it be.

Later, I packed my bag and left for home. The trip wasn’t smooth. At one point, we ran into traffic, and the driver had to reverse and take another, longer route. That route wasn’t pleasant at all and delayed us more than expected.

Eventually, I got home. I greeted everyone, dropped my bag, and went straight to the bathroom. I won’t even lie—the water from that shower felt heavenly. I stayed there longer than usual, just soaking in the calm.

When I was done, I dressed up and went to the kitchen. I had heard something was cooking, and soon enough, food was ready. It was jollof rice with beef. Even though I’d had more than enough rice in school and would have preferred swallow, the soup I wanted was too frozen, so I settled for the rice. No regrets—the rice was delicious!

While eating, I watched the Club World Cup match: Fluminense vs Al Hilal. The Brazilian side, Fluminense, beat the Saudi team.

After the match, I played Whot (a card game) with my siblings. We played five rounds, and I won twice. After the game ended, the thought of you all came to mind—and I decided it was time to finally share a story here.

This is actually my first time writing in the group, and I just wanted to say thank you for reading this far. I hope your day went great too, and I’m wishing you all a happy, restful weekend ahead.