The Story Behind My Favorite Photos #231

Happy New Week to All the Amazing Ladies of Hive!
I hope you're all doing well. In the spirit of celebration, I want to wish all my Muslim friends Barka da Sallah! May this new week bring blessings to everyone.

For this week's contest, I’d like to give a big shoutout to @marivic10 for reminding us to reflect on our favorite photos and the memories behind them.

For me, I want to share some special moments from my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) days. In Nigeria, all university and polytechnic graduates must complete this one-year mandatory program after graduation.

Many graduates, including me, see the NYSC year as a time to recover from the struggles of school while gaining work experience. During this period, the government provides a monthly allowance and assigns corps members to organizations where they can either work or receive training related to their field of study.

I did my NYSC in Anambra State, and it was an amazing experience! We received stipends from three sources:

1.The Federal Government
2.The State Government
3.The Organization where we were posted

Back then, our monthly allowance was ₦33,000, but the current batch of corps members will enjoy an increased payment of ₦77,000.
NYSC was truly a memorable chapter in my life. A year of finance. Smiles!

What made my NYSC year so special was the morning drills led by military personnel. They would wake us up as early as 5 AM to prepare for the parade ground. It was a completely different experience from the usual school routine, where mornings were all about getting ready for lectures.
At camp, our mornings were spent either in orientation programs or skill acquisition training, which continued until we were posted to our Place of Primary Assignment (PPA).

I truly enjoyed my PPA because they provided us with stipends to support us during the service year. I also gained valuable work experience and friendship too. I was posted to a place where different people came for counselling and care. At first, I was nervous about interacting with people because, during my school days, I had very few friends and wasn’t very social.

However, my service year taught me how to understand and interact with people in a way that helped me provide better service to others. It was a skill I never thought I needed, but it has been so useful in my life.
As the year came to an end, reality began to set in. This was the time when many of us became anxious because the regular stipends would soon stop, leaving us with only one last payment, unless the organization decided to retain us for full-time work.

Looking back at my NYSC photos, I feel amazed at how much I grew during that time. It was a fun and unforgettable experience, and I learned valuable lessons that I still use today.

Thank you so much for reading, ladies! I wish you all a fantastic and successful week ahead. Bye for now!