DIARY OF A UNEC KID

PUBLICATION 5

FINAL YEAR DIARIES: SURVIVING THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS AS A FINALIST

Final Year Diaries: New Hostel, New Life, New Headache
You know how they say “new level, new devil”? Yeah… they were talking about final year.

After fighting tooth and nail to get a UNEC hostel bedspace (see previous blog post for that war story), I thought the hardest part was over. 😂 I was wrong. Very wrong. Because what came next was a full-blown reality check in form of a dusty room, ghosted roommates, registration stress, and my biggest lesson yet: adulting in UNEC hostel hits differently.

🏠 New Hostel, New Vibes (Sort of)
I resumed late. Not because I wanted to, but because life was lifing. When I finally arrived, I was mentally prepared to meet a room buzzing with students, maybe some welcome gist and loud laughter… instead, I met nothing. Silence. Empty beds. Dust that could rival the Sahara. And the worst part? All my roommates hadn’t resumed either.

So there I was, final year student, standing in the middle of my new room looking around like “Who cursed me?”

🧹 The “Welcome” Package
The room was bare-bone empty. Mattress on the floor, just one chair, windows shut close retained dust and mosquitoes. I had to sweep layers of grime like I was preparing for an environmental sanitation parade. No chair. No table. Spoilt wardrobe. I was basically starting from scratch.

But in the middle of all that chaos came light… her name is Tonia.

Tonia — my course mate turned lifesaver — literally held it down for me. She helped me get a chair, a table, and even a bed floor. She made settling in less hellish and more “okay, I can survive this.” If you’ve ever had someone who made your stay easier in UNEC, you know that kind of gratitude that sits in your chest.

📚 Registration Wahala & Academic Blurriness
Now add registration stress on top of hostel struggles. Let’s just say UNEC’s registration process still has its signature chaos — long queues, scattered information, form this, form that. And because I resumed late, I had to catch up fast. But the admin offices were either closed, half-opened, or swamped with tired students. I was tired too — mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Meanwhile, classes had started.

But the truth? Those first few classes were a blur to me. I barely even noticed what was being taught. I was either too tired from hostel runs or literally coming from home to school just to sort something out. My mind was occupied with “did the student affair office open today?” “Is the remita working today?” “When will I finish settling down?” Not exactly the academic mindset my lecturers were hoping for. 😅

🧠 Real Talk
Final year hit me with a broom. Literally and metaphorically.

But as exhausting as it was, there was something empowering about it too. Like I was building something. A new space. A new chapter. A new rhythm.

It wasn’t glamorous — it was gritty. But that’s final year for you. It doesn’t roll out a red carpet. It hands you a broom and says: Sweep your way to greatness.

And thanks to friends like Tonia, who show up when you’re barely holding it together, the journey doesn’t feel so lonely.

Stay tuned for the next blog post in the series where I talk about settling into the rhythm of classes, project anxiety, and the first wave of “this-is-final-year-for-real” panic.