My Bet
Recounting an extraordinary moment in my school life.
One day, when I was a senior in secondary school, I made a bet with my Physics teacher.
I was brilliant alright, but Physics' tests and exams always had a way of making me feel empty. I don't know whether it was the teacher's handwriting, the color of his marker ink, or just the Physics itself. I was always barely escaping F in Physics, and I was sure it was only a matter of time before the teacher's heavy cane would bless my back.
So, that day, as we were all in anticipation of the final term Physics exam which was a week away, I made a bet with ‘Tear-back’, my Physics teacher. Don't be so surprised by the nickname, it was a perfect description of what he did to students who failed his tests.
“Sir, I will score 60/60 in your exam next week, let's bet.” I had said confidently.
My teacher laughed, but somehow, I felt a part of him wanted it to happen.
“Delight, what is Ohm's Law?” he had asked.
“Ermm” I scratched my head, unable to remember what the law said, even though we have been treating that topic for 3 weeks straight.
“Hahaha” he had laughed. “I know you can pass my tests. You just need to sit down and read your book everyday.”
That day I went home regretting my action at first, and pouring all my Physics books on the floor next. I sat beside them and wondered if it was even possible for one 15- year old human to learn all those many principles and formulas. I opened one of the books and proceeded to start reading and the next time I opened my eyes, it was already night.
“Shit!” I said and packed all my books back into my bag.
The next day, I didn't go to school. I badly wanted to crack Physics. I took out a blank sheet and a pen, and started writing. I wrote down all the topics I'd been taught for that term, and created a check box beside each of them. I decided to charge towards each topic one after the other, and check the box after I'd solved all the possible questions under the topic. It didn't sound or look easy, but I found it doable.
I started with the first topic, carefully studying every line over and over again, carefully breaking down Einstein and Newton's words into understandable terms in my head. I started deriving formulas and started solving the simple problems I could find in the text books. After that I moved to the complex problems and found that I could solve them too. It took a long time to get past one topic, but I was totally enjoying what I was doing. I called my brother and started explaining why the principle of relative density was the ratio of the mass of a unit volume of a substance to the density of a given reference material.
I was sure he didn't understand a thing I said, but I clearly understood it. I tell you, I once felt like I could go back in time and give Einstein a better formula for his theory of relativity. Yep I felt so good. I charged through other topics like this and before I knew it, I was almost done with all ten topics.
The next day was D-Day. I wore my uniform and went to school. Everyone was looking at me awkwardly. Were they seeing Physics on my forehead? Well, I walked to my class, sat down, and waited for the exam to start. I resisted the urge to skim through my book again. That day, I didn't even bother to sit close to the brightest student in the class. I was on my own, just replaying all the equations and theorems I'd learned from the different textbooks I had read.
The papers came in a little while. I closed my eyes and said a short prayer. As I opened the booklet, I saw the first set of questions. They were from the last topic I had failed to read. I placed my hands on my head. “Chineké” slowly escaped my mouth. I shook my head and went on to the next set of questions. They were similar to the problems I had solved at home! I did it in less than a minute and went to the third set of questions. These ones looked too easy to me, and I finished them quickly also.
I was done with all the questions now, except for the first one from the topic I had no chance to study. But something was different now. I started breaking down the questions in my head, just like I'd done back at home. I started solving and solving. My rough book was full. My calculator contained numbers almost nearing infinity. I kept solving. I settled for an answer a while later and proceeded to go to the objectives section.
In less than 1 hour, I was done with everything, and I submitted. I felt I had done my best, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't regret my answers.
Two weeks later, my Physics teacher called me.
“Something's not right, I am marking your papers and your score is totalling 67/60. How is that even possible?”
I burst into laughter. This man must be toying with my feelings.
“Well,” he said “I'll go through everything again and see what the problem is.”
Many days later, we all went to see our final results. Every person's score was given to them. When I saw mine, my chest tightened.
“Delight,” I heard my Physics teacher's voice. “What juju did you do? You said it like a joke then, but you have just shocked me in a way I'd never imagined before. You did exceptionally well, and I'm so proud of you.”
I looked at my paper and saw ‘57/60’ boldly written on it. I smiled. It was better than the ‘35’ I got last time, and was in fact the highest I'd ever gotten in a Physics exam.
“Thank you, sir.” I shouted, smiling expressly.
That was easily one of the best moments of my school life.✨
Affirmations are powerful. Your belief makes it more likely you'll act in ways that make your affirmations become reality. So, say to yourself only the things that make you stronger and never doubt yourself for a moment.
