Hello everyone, I am excited to be here and this is my Introductory post.
My name is Abigail and the Hebrew meaning is 'Fathers source of Joy' and truly, I try to bring joy and gladness to my family and friends. I am the last born of my family and I am a native of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, the home of the most delicious native delicacy (Abula).
I was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, where I attended my primary school (Igbehin-adun, meaning the end will be sweet) and my secondary school (Eva Adelaja Memorial Secondary School) before I proceeded to Mountain Top University to obtain my first degree.
Growing up was a lot of fun for me as the last born of my family, especially with the popular expression that it is the last born that enjoys the most. Well I partly agree with the expression because my siblings relinquished the house chores to me at a time when they were all going for their higher studies and I had to do the chores myself. Well, it turned out I did them effortlessly without complaining and I quickly adjusted to fixing broken items at home, changing the bulb light, checking bad sockets, refilling the gas cylinder, etc. One funny memory I will never forget about my childhood was how addicted I was to watching the television, to the extent that my late sister and I wrote down a time-table of all our favorite TV shows, soap operas (Super Story, This Life, Tinsel, Binta and Friends, etc) and cartoons (Tom and Jerry, Power Puff Girls, Superman, Power rangers, etc). My TV addiction had a Masters' degree because I would rewatch repeated events on the TV with such rapt attention and even skip my meals so as not to miss any moment.
my sister and I.
Eventually, my mom took me to camp for deliverance with a 3-day fast, because the TV addiction was too much and I would not do anything when there was power supply other than to watch all events on the TV except news. 😀
Indeed, after the deliverance I had some sort of liberation from the TV addiction and even till now I can do very much without watching the TV.
Another experience I had while I was a teenager was exposure to so many American movies and how it shaped how I speak. I would watch a movie and boom, start speaking queens English and saying all sort of things I didn't know the meaning. Because of that, my parents said I would be a lawyer. But it is funny how one wishes to be something while at a young age and becomes something else at the end of the day. This does not mean childhood dreams do not come to pass but now, I know achieving one's dreams goes way beyond wishing and dreaming of how glam one would look like. It involves a lot of hard work, discipline and commitment to be on a course and achieve the big dream regardless of the challenges.
I am grateful to God for the gift of my parents because during any short or long break, they ensured I enrolled in a computer class to learn the basic elements and how to operate a computer. Also, I enrolled in a pastry and baking training center to learn how to bake and make several confectioneries, but for some reasons I cannot explain, I never experimented with what I learnt, and most of what I was thought were pushed to the bottom of my mind. However, 2 years ago, I was inspired by a YouTube video and tried an home made cake.
The taste was not too bad 😀
I have always had a passion for reading and studying because right from my childhood, I approached my studies with an open mind and it allows me to delve into whatever I was reading. I could read anything in print, even to the papers used to sell roasted plantains and corn. I am also very fond of crossword puzzles.
In 2021, after the pandemic (covid-19) I had a goal to read about 12 books, one for each month and yes, I did achieve it. I enjoyed reading books that I came across both online and hard copies. I made friends with people who had a large library. I love reading because it gives me some sort of boldness and confidence to talk with people and helps me to express myself better.
WHY HIVE?
I have come to realize that life is indeed in phases and men are in sizes. At a time in life, I was frustrated about my life, because I waited for 4 years to gain an admission into the higher institution, despite being a bright student. However, when I indeed got the admission, it came with full scholarship. I have met several people during the course of my life and no one is without a significance. The most important thing is to know the role anyone is playing in one's life.
One of my favorite quotes is that 'know your place in anyone's life and know peace'. This means, understanding your position in anyone's life will help you know whether you should hold the person like a pinch of salt or a bag of rice.
Recently, I sat down and evaluated my friendship zone and deleted some persons that were not adding any value to my life but were also introducing toxins. Funny thing was that after I deleted them, I have moved on effortlessly and met other set of people that are relevant to the present status of my life. Moreso, I was able to meet Ola, my colleague who introduced me to Hive, also special appreciation to Mrs Beauty for helping me come onboard.
I believe this platform would help me connect to more people so I can learn, unlearn, and relearn, boost my financial capacity, and also to share my writing skills and stories with everyone.
Thank you for reading.