The Assembly We Couldn’t Escape.

I’ve had plenty of unforgettable moments in school, but there’s one that i experienced in SS2 that I can never forget.

Back then, my friends and I never really liked attending morning assembly. To us, it felt like a waste of time to be standing in the sun, listening to announcements and songs that we didn’t care much about. Because of that, we always had a plan to “stab” the assembly. Sometimes, we would stay behind in the classroom, and other times we’d sneak into the toilet and hide there until it was over. It was actually very fun at the time because sometimes i even spent the time resting.

But then came the day when our little game backfired badly. What we didn’t know was that the principal had instructed the prefects to go around the school that morning and hunt down any students who had skipped assembly. Unfortunately for us, that was the very day we decided to hide. I can still remember the moment clearly: We were hanging around near the toilet, thinking we had outsmarted everyone, when suddenly two prefects showed up. Before I could even react, they caught us red-handed. My heart sank immediately because I knew the punishment wouldn’t be small.

They marched us straight to the assembly ground, and to make matters worse, we were told to kneel down on the stage in front of the entire school. Now, my school’s assembly ground was an open space where literally everyone could see you, no matter how tall or short you were. Standing up there, or rather kneeling down there, felt like the longest moment of my life. I couldn’t even look up. I just kept my head down, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me.

To add salt to the injury, the principal announced that we were going to be made scapegoats so that others would never learn to skip assembly again. Just imagine the whole school staring at you while you were labelled a bad example. It was beyond humiliating for me.

After the assembly, the principal gave us our punishment. Some of us were assigned to wash the gutters, while the rest were told to cut grass around the school compound. I ended up among those cutting grass. That day, we worked from morning until closing time. We didn’t enter the classroom at all, and by the time we were done, I was sweaty, dirty, and extremely exhausted.

Honestly, I regretted everything. What had seemed like a small act of mischief turned into one of the most embarrassing and tiring experiences of my entire school life. Even now, whenever I think about it, I just shake my head and laugh at how stubborn we are.

Thanks for reading.