The Diary Game || 26-07-25 || Signed Out But Still Going to School: The Project Work That Held Me Back

You see that day we all shouted, danced, and wore white clothes with black trousers or skirts to sign out? That day we hugged our friends and coursemates like it was the final goodbye? It was all vibes until reality slapped me a few days later — we still dey come school. For project work.

And not just any project work — the final copies. The one that will enter the department and rest in the archive forever.

Mine was just like a movie. After signing out, I found myself moving up and down, preparing the four final copies of my project work — three for the department and one for me to hold and prepare with.

The journey started at that small printing shop inside Convocation Park commonly known as convoc park at Town Campus. That shop means something to me. It's the same place my eldest brother used to print his own school stuff before he graduated. So walking in there, carrying my final project work for printing, just felt like I was stepping into his shoes — now it’s my turn.

After printing, the woman there referred me to a man around the corner — the one who does the real magic. He uses a penknife to cut the edges of the printed project so it becomes Quarto size, the format UniUyo accepts. Although doing quarto size project work does not start and ends here but it all starts during the editing. At that point the one who is in charge of your work will edit and save your into quarto size. Then the man with the penknife finishes by cutting ✂️ out the buttom side that is empty. Maybe in my next article, I will show you the step to step processes on how the work was carried out. His shop too is inside that same Convocation Park, the former spot where University of Uyo usually hosted her matriculations and convocation ceremonies. That whole area now, is a business community where students go to pay their school fees, acceptance fees,print out course forms, clearance card, etc. as long as it connects to the deportal or online stuffs.

Now let me tell you something I wish someone told me earlier...

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A4 vs Quarto: What They Don’t Tell You (But Your Wallet Will Feel It)

Normally, we type and print on A4 paper — the regular white sheet everybody knows. But when all the final corrections have been done, and it’s time for submission, UniUyo says: "Bring it in Quarto size."

At first glance, A4 looks longer, right? But here’s the twist: Quarto is shorter and narrower, so your content stretches across more pages — and more pages means more money for printing.

Let me show you real proof from my own project work:

My A4 copy ended at page 73.

My Quarto copy ended at page 91.

Just imagine that — 18 extra pages, and all because the page was slightly smaller! That’s like printing a mini textbook from a handout. Nobody tells you that when you’re dancing during sign out.

And it doesn’t end there. Once printed, you still need to:

Cut it down to the Quarto dimensions (that’s what the penknife man did).

Punch holes for binding.

Rope it neatly like a professional document.

These little finishing touches cost money too. The man who helped me charged just ₦100 per project copy, and I was like, “Thank God.” But the woman at the printer’s shop said some other guy she knows charges ₦300 for the exact same thing — cutting, punching, and roping. Though this amount was far small compared to what I spent in print the 4 copies of my quarto size project work. It was supposed to cost me 18,280 naira but since I learnt that hard binding only comes after project defense, I decided to exclude it and do just the printing which cost me 14,280 naira. Though the woman was kind enough telling me so send just 13,700 as her usual customer wey I be😊

That's the photo below 👇

You can see how students are quietly spending behind the scenes. No one posts this stress on Instagram. But in the real world, project work is expensive, and even the paper size you choose has an effect.

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After the Printing Wahala

After the printing and cutting, I carried the completed copies to my supervisor for signing. That felt like progress — like I was walking towards my freedom. I even snapped that moment.

It was special. You don’t know the weight that lifts from your chest when you finally see your supervisor's signature at the beginning page of your project, where we have supervisor.

Then I walked to the Project and Seminar Coordinator’s office. Na there the final journey dey. But when I reached there, the crowd was mad. Students from Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, and Integrated Science were all there with their final copies, some even sweating.
The inconvenience might have made me forgot to take pictures of that moment.

The man came out once, tired and obviously overwhelmed. He grabbed copies of the project work randomly and told us all to come back on Monday to write our names.

And guess what? Our defense is already Tuesday.

As if that one is not enough, we still have seminar defense ahead. No date has been fixed yet. So at the end of the day, even after signing out and dancing, we still dey trek go campus.

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Where Steemit Came In

Funny enough, something good still came out of this stress. While the man was working on cutting the edges of my project, I took pictures. He looked at me like, "Why you dey snap?"

I told him, “I’m going to write about all this on Steemit, a platform where I document my experiences.”

From there, we started talking. He became interested. He said he would love to join but needs to change his phone battery first. I gave him my number and shared a bit about how Steemit works. It made me feel good — turning one frustrating school experience into something that might inspire someone else.

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Conclusion: Signing Out is Just a Chapter

So yes, I signed out. Took pictures. Danced with friends. Even my street people signed on me from house to house. But deep inside, I knew — school never really ends until that project defense and seminar defense are over.

That’s the reality they don’t show in the white-and-black pictures. But that’s the story I’ll always remember.

@bossj23
@edu-chemist
@booming01
@steemcurator06