“You are free to eat or drink anything apart from alcohol in my class, but you are not free to share it with the person sitting next to you.”

That was the third rule our General Studies coordinator had given after introducing himself this morning. Then came the usual ones: put your phone on silent, remove any cap or scarf on your head, and absolutely no side talks.

You know, this was my first class in months. The last time I sat in a lecture hall was February – don't ask me why🙃

Today's topic was Negative Attitudes and Conducts: Cultism, Kidnapping and Other Related Social Vices.

After listing some causes of these behaviours, he asked the class to mention examples. He wrote them on the board one after another, then said,

“Once I point at you, stand up and tell us how many of these you're guilty of. You don't have to mention which exact ones, just tell us the number.”

The whole class burst into laughter.

Then one student mentioned extortion.

He asked her to explain it further and give an example, but she struggled to find the right words. Before she could properly express herself, he waved it off and said something that made me quietly raise an eyebrow.

He basically concluded that since she couldn't explain it properly, we weren't even sure extortion should be on the list.

In my mind I was thinking…

"Wouldn't 'coercion' have been a better word to help explain what she was trying to describe?" Because she mentioned "Forcibly taking money from someone." 

Then another thought — one I definitely won't say out loud, crossed my mind.

“Sir... are you guilty of extortion?”

Because here you are asking everyone to count the wrongs they're guilty of... then suddenly extortion is the one example we're not going to examine too closely.

Don't tell anyone I said that please 😂

Anyway…

What I'm really getting at is how much our understanding of an idea often depends on our ability to explain it. Sometimes a person knows exactly what they mean but lacks the words – just like me. 

But that doesn't necessarily make the idea wrong.

Language is a strange thing, this is one of those moments where vocabulary arrives later than thought and expression.

Shalom!

(Read my story KELENNA on Wattpad, and read my poems as well. If you're on Dreame, it's there also.)

Princess Ella ⚜️