Power Play

This image is mine.

As humans, we are wired to seek power. Interestingly, what most people do not know is that it can consume us. I take it that we are all familiar with the saying “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” When people gain power, they are often tempted to manipulate and exploit others for their selfish interests. Worst still, some do it for pleasure. I still recall an insightful quote from my secondary school days, shared by one of my favorite lecturers. He said, 'Even a gateman, given the power to control access to a place, will be tempted to abuse that power, exploit and manipulate those under his authority.' This insightful quote has remained with me to this day, reminding me of how humans can become corrupt, selfish, evil, and mean under the influence of power.

I'm sure we've all experienced situations where others had more influence or power, and they used it to their advantage, leaving us physically or psychologically vulnerable. I recall my time in Catholic school, where the authorities imposed excessive and unnecessary rules and used their power to exploit and manipulate students under the guise of discipline. I recall how my principal made us suffer while we sang his favorite song, “We Are Disciplined Students.” Similarly, I've faced situations outside school where people use their power and influence to take advantage of me. In simple words, the phrase “absolute power corrupts absolutely” is not new to me as I have witnessed it on several occasions.

As I mentioned above, several times, I have been in a situation where others had more influence and power than me, and they used it to their advantage, leaving me psychologically scarred. However, the one that stands out happened last semester (around January.) I am a person who takes my studies seriously. I believe that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. So, when it comes to my academics, I do everything in my power to make sure I excel well and come out with flying colors. The course that I am studying is pretty demanding, but trust me to always tackle it with everything I've got.

The exam period- the most difficult, challenging, and overwhelming period in a student’s life. I wish exams didn't exist. Pray, bless the genius who invented exams. I mean, wouldn't it be better if we could simply stand before a big statue of knowledge and take an oath- pledge our understanding of the course? But that is not the case, during exam periods, I go into my ghost mode. That is when I go off hive, and off social media platforms to focus on my studies. One thing about me is that is push myself to the extreme during exam periods. My coursemates and I always pull up all nighters, and most times, I fall sick.

Last semester, our exam schedule was crazy, with daily exams and no space in between, so my coursemate and I resorted to pulling all-nighters. We would study from 8 pm till 8 am the next day, then we repeat the same process the next day. On the last day, we were all weak and stressed physically, emotionally, and psychologically. The stress of pulling back-to-back all-nighters had taken a deep-rooted toll on us. Our eyes were red and heavy. Despite how stressed we were, we pushed ourselves knowing that the exam was fixed for 8 in the morning. As usual, we read in one of the empty classes in my faculty. The course was extremely complex and wide, so we had to start reading early. We started reading by 6 pm and then decided to stop and rest an hour before the exam (7 am). I don’t know how it happened, but we all slept off and woke up about nine minutes to 8.

Immediately, we rushed to the exam center and got there by 7:59. Surprisingly, the exam officer didn't allow us to enter. Just as we were about to go in, she stopped us and sent us out of the exam hall. After numerous pleas, she allowed us go in, but still didn't give us our answer sheets. She made us stand in front of the hall. According to her, we should have been inside the exam center before 7:30. This came as a surprise, as other exam officers had always insisted on a strict 8 am start time. We attempted to explain why we were late, but she refused to listen. The exam was scheduled for 2 hours and 30 minutes. The exam officer kept us waiting outside for 30 minutes, wasting a solid 30 minutes of our time before finally handing out the questions and answer sheets.

Standing outside messed with our heads. Some of my coursemates, the ones I studied with, said that when they saw the questions, it was like all they had studied vanished from their minds like magic. Standing also messed with my head, but thankfully, after a few minutes, I regained my focus and started writing. I managed to answer all the questions, but I didn't write everything I had planned because I was in a rush. Some of my friends couldn't finish. It was really frustrating because, despite all our efforts, we couldn't complete our work because of one lady who probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to act like God.

Thanks for reading.