I woke up on the 4th day of April and the first thought that raced through my mind was “ Chinwendu, today is the day, your POP”. My heart missed a beat.

I became scared, I knew I had to have a conversation with my Mum on how Kaduna is not bad for me, that it is like every other city and I have grown tremendously since I gave my heart to serve Nigeria in Kaduna.

I cried, I was less excited.

Asides from not knowing what to do next? The worse curse is a person that has a lot of options to choose from.

Should I stay back?

Should I go back to Anambra?

Definitely Abuja, I have something I could do there.

Maybe do my Masters now?

I just needed to find the right path, my mind was in whirlwind to settle on one thing.

But

I remembered coming to the crocodile city for the first time, how the first month was met with friction of nerves and anxiety.

The first time I would be going to a place and I don’t have any family member there.

I kept audio diaries to track my loneliness, financial instability, my fears, my doubts(I wondered why I was so sure that Kaduna would love me)

Months in, and Kaduna opened its arms and let me in, stroked my hair gently and whispered sweet nothings to my ears.

It romanced me greatly and surprised me in ways I didn’t fathom or factor in.

I decided that instead of focusing on what is going to happens next, I am going to focus on being grateful on how far I have come.

I’m going to Thank God for the people that poured love into me while I stayed here.

For the chances, for the doors that opened, for the gifts, for the laughter, for the lessons, for the leadership position(Head of Program, Editorial team).

I don’t know what you have heard of about Kaduna.

But Kaduna loved me softly and I’m happy I followed my hearts to do NYSC in this state.

I have successfully signed out and another milestone has been achieved.

All glory to God.