The “DR” prefix
I woke up this morning with a tight feeling in my chest. My head felt quite heavy and I had dizzy spells as I imagined the worst. I was too feeble to make the school trip for the check of my re-sit results. This was my final chance. Perhaps it was ridiculous to be this fearful, after all, I had given the exams my best efforts. In Medical school however, you can never be too confident in your abilities until the results confirm your success.
Dad had decided to take the day off work to stand as my support system while I awaited my fate. My ever brave and outspoken mother headed to the instituition very early that morning to help with checking the results. My Parents and brother; Tolu, had been my pillars especially in the few months preceding the re-sit examinations. It had been a world of torture seeing classmates who made all their papers at first sitting celebrate with social media posts. The situation got even worse when I caught a glimpse of some induction pictures. This prompted my resolution to stay off all social media platforms. The decision I must say was quite helpful, it made me focused enough to prepare for the re-sit examination.
The first phone call from my mother came through and I could not control the palpitations on seeing the caller ID. She spoke very calmly and informed me about the delay with the result release via the notice board. My mother is actually one of the very few people who understand me. As a teenager, my loved ones tended to hide vital but technically life changing information from me. They did this in the past as a result of the general consensus that I was incapable of handling some of life’s challenges. With time however, they saw the progress I had made concerning that aspect of my life. I was not there yet but I had definetely become much stronger.
Mum promised to be open this time with the information concerning my final examination results, regardless of the outcome. She had called only to confirm my examination number. This was to avoid mistakes while checking when the results were finally released.
The urge to empty my bladder became quite frequent during the long hours of waiting. The palpitations had not stopped either, I was sweating all over despite the abundant ventilation in the room. It seemed like Dad was not quite settled as well.
The second call from mum came through after three hours of waiting. This time, I was almost sure that she had checked the results. My hands trembled as I attempted to pick the call. Dad noticed and immediately grabbed the phone from me.
The next thing I heard was my dad’s resounding voice……”congratulations DOCTOR.”
I fell on my knees almost immediately with tear filled eyes singing praises to God who guided me through the six years spent in medical school. He made a way for me against all odds.
