Form One

The class of senior one felt more like junior one I was so empty and fresh pretty much like a fresh sleet, it was such an awful beginning i never hoped it'd have an awesome ending. On day one of reporting I was a little scared, I had a feeling I wasn't well prepared it was a warm sunny Monday i remember that day, after reporting and had finished the proceedings I had to head to my dorm and "St. Mbaaga" was the house written on my form. I was escorted by these two healthy senior twos who treated me like a wealthy duke, they carried my stuff as they spoke to me they had many jokes for me so when we got there one of them was called Kanyanks the other was Inno.

Kanyanks asked,

"So our corridor is right there (two rows from the door to the left is where he pointed) do you want there or anywhere else?"

I answered in confusion, " I'll stay with you guys if its okay."

He said, " No zib lets help you lay dem gwaz"

Which was school slung meaning, 

"No problem, lets help you lay your bed right there". The confusion was just beginning at St. Joseph's Senior Secondary School, Naggalama in Mukono as their slung was so  amusing for instance food was " doof", soda was "daso", electricity was "kara", water was "warrez", tea was "chai" and alot more confusing words.

After all that there was a parent's meeting so as my Dad attended, my journey was started with a meal of posho and beans, I easily made a friend at the D.H (Dinning Hall). My Dad was glad it was all done as he left it all sank in, the whole situation i had set in. In this new course, I was placed in senior one north.

The next day I made my first classmate called Lokwi Andy who turned out to be a master of artistry, his bed was right next to mine, so at dawn we prepared and had breakfast and in our red T-shirts and black trousers, we went to class then I sat next to Trish and Denis on a desk of three, desk number three in the column and row number three from the door, Trish would bring milk and biscuits at times and share with me and Denis she seemed so cool, Denis loved reading and disturbing me so it was a perfect match and I sat in between.

We had 17 subjects, a transition from the 4 subjects of primary. English was my best because i liked Mr. Apedo's accent and he was such a gent for an old man, French was nicely taught by Mr. Kambasu who had a shocking fate but he was so fun and chubby i remember one time he asked the difference between primary and secondary so I volunteered to show how they walk, for primary i pranced gently and for secondary i swagged while dragging my left leg and bouncing a bit. We had these French books of enlightenment turned into a source of entertainment by students who'd edit the words in French dialogues and make funny conversations even edit some animations which changed the meaning. 

Luganda by Mrs. Prossy, this lady had an eye she'd spot a needle in a pile of needles and she needn't punish you just an intimidating glance would put you in a rehabilitating state then History by Mrs. Ntege the awesome, if you arrived late for class you had to prepare to dance or give a quick bio of yourself, most times both and some people enjoyed it so much they'd deliberately come late.

In Home Economics there was nothing economic, this lady would use foot rulers to explain but the lesson would end in vain with the ruler in pieces so the next lesson we'd hide our rulers, she always warned boys against "Anti Bathing Club"  which was an ideology that'd keep boys from bathing more often. We learnt needle work and by the end of the year we were tailors and seamstresses. For the talent to be shown we made aprons, some were good, some beautiful and others awful. Lokwi drew a chef with needles and thread onto his apron like it was a museum art piece.

For Commerce I only remember trade and aids to trade ( MR. BATWIC), Physics by Mr. Matovu who was also like a school engineer, he was so  very intelligent, sincerely diligent also fun, one time he made a song out of a girl's name that my classmates remember to today, but when he's angry you'd tell. Literature was great the thing I can't forget is the 'Animal Farm' anthem, Chemistry with Mr. Enkaya was cool he was so confident and his teaching was consistent, great chemist but staunch atheist from Bunsen burner to the periodic table his lessons were epic. 

Agriculture was cool in the beginning and cram work was frustrating as for Biology Madam Rhona would emphasize neat diagrams and scrutinize with effort from her diaphragm, it wasn't all zoology and botany  because she took this time to counsel and advise us with mantle so precise. In addition we had Moral Training by the school chaplain Fr. Waswa, he'd explain morals to us with an aim of instilling discipline and as the school motto was "Disciplined we Succeed" he taught and sought to be able to see it in us though it was not examinable. 

Then we had Mr. Kyaku the music teacher known for his AdLib  "hmmm" with a very coarse and roughly deep texture in his tone, his lyrics were "ta", "tafa_teffe", " taaa", the musical notes, and the classic musical ladder of 🎼d r m f s l t d. Fine Art was indeed fine time to make our minds relax and just try to draw perfect strides, make colour tones synchronize and organize as we  prepare to draw American maps and lakes in Geography, learn about British Columbia and every thing America. Then there was Math the subject worth all the equipment equivalent to compasses, protractors, the triangular thing we never used, the 15cm ruler, a calculator, pencil, another (30cm) ruler and two books. Lastly there was Christian Religious Education the only subject we got education on the African Tradition and everything else Christian. 

It all seemed like a burden that had to be done but it was gone all of a sudden, the best part of secondary senior school isn't the study but the interesting journey I'll share...