Lessons Learnt From A Forgetful Moment

As humans, no matter how careful we try to be, we all forget important things once in a while. Some people are naturally more forgetful, while others tend to have it all under control. But the truth is that forgetfulness doesn't spare anyone. No matter how careful we try to be, sometimes we forget important things. I guess this is one of the things that makes us human. Forgetting an important thing, whether it is a colleague’s event or a friend’s birthday, can ruin a perfect day. Personally, I wouldn't call myself a forgetful person, but life has an interesting way of pulling its strings, right? Many times, I have found myself forgetting things that really matter, the most common one is remembering birthday dates. Years ago, other than my birthday, I struggled to remember my friends’ birthdays. Have you ever been in a situation where a friend randomly asks when their birthday is and you can't provide an answer? I realized I was hurting them by being forgetful, so I started making an effort to remember important dates. I still forget a few now and then, but at least it is better than it used to be.

Today, the Hive Learners’ community asks us to share the one time when we forgot something extremely important to us and how it affected our day. When I saw this topic, I thought ideas would start flowing seamlessly and I would have a lot of options to pick from, but as soon as I picked up my phone to start writing, it was as if the experiences magically disappeared. I had to think deeply before I finally remembered an experience of how I forgot something important and how it affected my day. This happened when I was in 300 level. At the time, we had back-to-back presentations. Most of the lecturers got lazy and tired of lecturing us, so they decided to give us topics to work on and have us present. Presentations are not my problem. I'm good with public speaking and I don’t remember ever having a hiccup with a presentation. Well, until that day.

Usually, I fall into the last group. Meaning that my group is always the last to present. This is because my matric number is the second to the last on the list. This has its perks and pitfalls. Sometimes, I am happy to be in the last group, and other times, it backfires. There were about 20 groups (10 members in each) and the lecturer gave different topics to present on. We had the lecturer’s class every Tuesday. And every Tuesday, we used it for a presentation. The whole thing was moving so slowly that I totally forgot about the presentation and stopped going to classes. There were 20 groups and I was in the last one. Every Tuesday, about 3 groups presented. I assumed I had plenty of time. So, I stopped going to the classes. It was already close to the exam period so I focused on other classes. I totally forgot about the presentation until a certain Tuesday when I got a call from my group leader.

I had no plans to leave my room that Tuesday. My data was off and I was soaked in bed, scrolling through Instagram reels. Suddenly, the call from my group leader came in. He said that there were 7 groups left and the lecturer announced that we must all present that day. At that time, I had not had my bath. There wasn't even water in the house. But that wasn't the problem, the problem was that I had totally forgotten everything about the presentation. How would I present when I didn't even remember the topic anymore? I rushed out, fetched a bucket of water, and returned to my room to take my bath. In a jiffy, I was done preparing and rushed down to school.

When I got to school, I saw my group members outside, reading and preparing for the presentation. Luckily, we had time to prepare because we were the last group. When it finally got to my group’s turn, we did the presentation well, but there were many gaps. Usually, I like to present everything from memory, but that day, I had to rely on my notes. I also stuttered a few times because I had not prepared well. I'm sure if we had not forgotten the presentation, we would have done better than we did. Overall, it didn't go too well.

To ensure this never happens again, I always make sure to prepare for a presentation, regardless of anything. I'll always be in the last group to present, but I've realized that I shouldn't relax until it's my turn. Instead, the best strategy is to always be prepared. Unforeseen circumstances can arise at any time. What if the lecturer decides to call on people to present from the back?

Images in this post are mine.

Thanks for reading.