You will never be able to escape your heart. So it is better to listen to what it has to say. - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Sometimes you find yourself searching for moral currency. The "humans are social creatures" part of you comes into focus and it doesn't leave you until you satisfy some of its cravings. As members of a community sometimes we have to pause the blame game and actually do something about it no matter how little.

The month of May started with good news of a future I would not talk about for now (allow me some mystery 🙃). I finally filled up the heart on my opay donation board. It's not really a great feat but I've always wanted to know what happens and I love the initiative. They even sent me a certificate for my troubles.

Moving on from fun to consequences, my masters project is finally nearing its conclusion. At the moment of this review, I'm in the minor correction and adjustment phase. I say consequences because my supervisor sort of jumped me and we are now moving at an accelerated pace. I like and hate it at the same time. I was also called to defend my seminar in school with really short notice but that's also out of the way, Thank God.

The first social activity of the month was a book review session with me as the reviewer. I tried to choose a book that can be both entertaining for fiction readers and non-fiction readers; it was not easy but I settled on one and we reviewed "The Alchemist". I had to re-read it in order to refresh my memory and I really had a great time talking about it with fellow SLS members. The conversation went from philosophy to physics, politics and religion. It was a bout of ideas and healthy arguments. It was fun.

Remember last year when I said I got a new dessert? Well, she turned one this month and we have a little (not so little) celebration to mark the day. We took lots of pictures, enjoyed convo with family and reminisced on where we were on that day last year. I can't remember specifics even if I wanted to but it was overall a fun filled day with cake.

Then it was back to google docs and chat gpt with my project. I'm running on deadlines and trying to get structure before review day which I was sure was going to be a grilling experience and I was right. Questions and critical analysis of every sentence was done and I was the guinea pig for all the other masters students in the group. So I was publicly reviewed. After that mind draining experience, I ended the day by attending a shower for one of my dearest friends. We played games and painted some pots and now I have Roxanne my yellow pot with a horrible drawing of a yellow flower with a snake plant in it. So that concluded the 3rd week of May.

A few weeks back, I saw a call for volunteers for a spelling bee competition hosted by the "Foundation for Human Capacity Development and Innovation" in Suleja. I applied to be a volunteer because I believe we should try our best to do something for our community no matter how little. If we don't develop the culture of community participation for the little things we can do, we might not have the motivation to do the bigger things when we can. So the last week of May became my community involvement week. It was great albeit stressful that it sorta clouded everything May has been. The event lasted for three days (excluding prep days) and kicked off on children's day marked on the 27th day of May. This is the largest physical event I've ever had the privilege of being involved in and it brought me a great sense of fulfillment that we have gotten to the point where I have value to offer. I would not tell you it wasn't tiring (we all know I'm lazy 😉) but it was also fun. It was beautiful to work in a team with people that share your goal and mindset. The faces of young kids looking at you as an adult makes you really think about how far you've come and the impact and impression you can have on humans that would one day follow the path you have walked on while also expanding and improving it. So as much as “introvert” me woke up tired and mumbling before 8am, I still thank “extrovert” me for clicking that link and filling that application form.

In the course of working with people from several states in Nigeria, I had come to expect a follow up question 80% - 90% of the time whenever team introductions were being made; "Where is Suleja?". It has become a part of me that while others are giving one word replies, I always follow mine with a sentence and general geographical description. This event made me have a wish that one day I wouldn't have to describe where "Suleja" is for anyone not living in Abuja or Niger state.

You thought I was done? Nope. I still had one more thing for the last day of May. I was part of the representatives of SLS that took charge of a book reading session for kids and we had fun though at this point my social battery was at 20% 😂.

So May was ultimately an Ode to children and education mixed with a sense of accomplishment and a little bit of pride. Sometimes you enjoy Adulting and that's exactly what happened in this NOBLE MONTH OF ETHICS.