By Miracle Adebayo
Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well - Jack Kornfield
Initially, it seemed like it was never going to end because of the consistent interruption of the academic calendar. Since Matriculation, many students have been on the lookout and will comfortably tell their friends, “ I can't wait to graduate” even when the journey had just begun and there were no positive pointers from the situations then that the journey would not be elongated.
Well, the 2021/2022 session is finally coming to an end. The session which started on December 20, 2021, according to the initially released school academic calendar, got extended to the year 2023 with a lot of modifications and adjustments. Meanwhile, the delay and extension in the session to another year was a result of situations and circumstances beyond control among which was the major eight-month strike between the 14th of February, 2022 and the 17th of October, 2022.
Nevertheless, The FYB week has passed and the joy of the final year students of great Ife during the week knew no bounds and was beyond expression. The final year brethren week, “FYB Week” is a week set aside for the final year students towards the end of the second semester to commemorate the students' activities so far on campus and also celebrate and acknowledge their presence, significance, and experience in the institutions they belong to respectively. It was another season of joy and happiness for the finalists in Great Ife.
The FYB week, dated between Monday, 22nd – Friday, 26th of May 2023, started with a corporate outfit day, followed by “back to school”, “Denim day”, and “jersey day” and ended with “costume day” for each of the five days respectively. The extra-curricular activity (FYB Week) which is usually in the last week of lectures, was fully engaging, as students from different departments were seen at the common spot of the OAU campus; motion ground, taking pictures and creating memories.
Titilayo Osunpidan, a finalist in the Department of Demography, expressed her utmost joy in the activities. She said that FYB week brought back the realization that they were graduating and leaving school, as it doesn’t feel like it during the past weeks of lectures so far.
Another finalist from the Department of public administration described the period as fun, interesting and perfect timing for one to forget one’s sorrow and live in the fact that their days are now numbered on the OAU campus as a student.
Speaking to the Editor-In-Chief of the Association Of Potential Broadcasters (ASPOB) News Agency, Mary Adebayo who is also a finalist, revealed that although she did not fully prepare for the week's activities, every single day of the activities turns out to be the best and left to her all of the five days of the activities were her favourite days.
For some, it was a lecture-free week while for others, it was a combination of extra-curricular activities week with tests and classes. However, that did not stop the fun for the finalists. Titilayo from the faculty of Social sciences confirmed they had classes on some of those days. In her words, she said “We rock outfit like that to go and write test and afterwards continue with having fun”
Amidst this, it is noteworthy that as this period may be a time of celebration for most finalists, not all finalists find the necessity to partake in the activities, as they found it complicated to balance projects, tests, final exam syndromes, and the activities of the week. Other concerns were related to finances. Some finalists revealed that not everyone could handle the expenses that come with all the extra-curricular activities of being a finalist.
In all, the finalists maintain that it is a period to be celebrated, as it is a once-in-a-lifetime activity, so it should be enjoyed fully.