The Habit ; Black and white.

d to leave in the morning, so I hurried Mama and made sure we went to early morning mass to finish whatever we needed to do before leaving. Mama had already made Sunday ofe akwu stew the

ly with thunderstorms, much to my disappointment.. I prayed that the rain would

d my belongings into the taxi that Mama had called the day before. I didn't have much to carry, especially new schoo

ldn't understand why some of the new students were making a scene at the school compound. Some were crying, while others were hugging their parents tightly, as if they were leaving them in a differ

hostel was named after a reverend sister in the school. The newly admitted students were to share two dormitory rooms. The senior student who guided us to our room said that it was compulsory for the newly admitted students to be given separate hostels because it was easier to monitor our char

of theirs. The hostel was scattered with properties belonging to different students, creating a bustling scene of belongings strewn across the dormitory. We were given a leather bag containing ou

vealed the mold of their breasts and their white pants We followed suit as we entered a spacious gated open space called the bathing ground. The bathing ground is an open field in the school where students take their baths and also do their laundry. The place was lowly fenced and demarcated with rods and raised pavement separating each person from the next. Students were paired according to their respective classe

shapes having their bath without any form of shyness made me self-aware. My classmates and I were shown our bathing spot by the sanitary prefect, where we would always be having our bath. The weat

a total of fifteen uniforms, eight school wears, which consisted of four blue pinafores, two yellow shirts for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and two white shirts for Mondays and Wednesdays; two day wears, which were white and green check dresses, two Sunday

ed with kneelers, the pews were complemented by stained glass windows depicting biblical scenes and saints, which filtered the rising sunrays into a kaleidoscope of colors that danced across the stone walls. The choristers sat at the back pews, demarcated by a high pavement. In front of the pews, there was a sanctuary housing the altar, a focal point adorned

were mute because we were not yet acquainted with the prayers. After the prayers, each student went about their functions, cleaning and tidying up different areas of the school. The newly admitted students, including myself, were not assigned any duty yet. Instead, we were addressed by the senior prefect on the rules and regulations of