Room 2D Arese Ediae

Thursday afternoons in Edgewood College were synonymous with several things: assessment tests, pans of limp spaghetti in the vast dining hall, and the constant whir of the gardener’s mowing machine. However, these seemed pale in comparison to the classes held by Ms Oshinuga. Every Thursday afternoon, I filed into Room 2D with other Physics students as the bells screeched and wailed, indicating the end of the second lunch. However, I was not like the other students. While others bemoaned the rigour of the advanced science electives offered by the school, I was simply grateful to be allowed access to the lectures.

I was considered a learner with a ‘special cognitive condition’, and, where the school implemented a harsh grading system for ‘typical’ science students, the ostensible impossibility of me grasping complex concepts such as differentiation and integration was a given. “You will study History and Government.” Instructed a senior academic advisor in my school. “You will read stories and learn dates. Those are simple things. Why must you task yourself with advanced mathematics?” To my horror, my parents agreed that this was a logical course of action for me take. Ms Oshinuga found me sitting on a bench by the administrative...