DEAR ME: FINAL EDITION 💝✨

Cheers, to the '025 Set🥂 

Mara made the sign of the cross and dropped her pen on the desk. It had been a routine for every exam, a gesture of commitment. Today, it was history. Today, October 11, 2025. Saturday morning, in GS Theatre A.

She walked down the stairs slowly, taking in the rustle of the papers, the soft thud of her sneakers. Her sash rippled rhythmically as she stepped towards the invigilator, Mr Nwachukwu, and submitted her script and for the last time.

Outside, there was already a sea of students. Course mates that had started the journey with her. Today, together, they were ending it.

"Congratulations!" Tola cried and rushed to her first. Mara gave her a hug and let her sign on her shirt with a red marker. As she felt the cold tracing of the marker below her shirt, the dream became real. She thought, this is it. This is finally it.

"Theodora!"

"Mara mia!"

The two friends embraced and giggled in each other's arms. Then they parted, looked at their sashes and beamed. To the left of each sash was the department logo, and the words, B.A Mass Communication. At the same time, they screamed.

"First graduate scream!" Mara laughed.

"Call it a super lioness roar," Theodora cooed and they laughed.

"Dora! Mara!" Leo called and ran up to them. In a burst of ecstasy, they rushed into each other and rejoiced with a group hug. Then they pulled apart and began to hail themselves. "Graduate!" they cried and hyped one another.

"We have to take as many pictures as possible," Theodora declared. She was wearing black jeans, a white packet shirt and black and white sneakers. Her sash dangled from her shoulders elegantly and her red hair fell down in straight strands. The caption at the back of her shirt read, IT.

"I'm in," Leo said grinning widely at his girls. He was wearing blue designer jeans with an oppressive pair of Converse loafers and his white shirt had DID tattooed on the back.

"Can we start here? I want to remember this building as the last place I wrote an exam as an undergrad," Mara said gesturing towards the front of GS building. She was wearing her copy of Theodora's costume but her hair was black. Her shirt had WE in bold black letters on the back.

"Sure, babes. Let me call Mfon. I really want us to get to signing on everyone. My signature will dirty every shirt's breast pocket."

"I prefer the cuff."

Leo shrugged. "Any where's fine with me, especially the..."

"Don't be a pervert, Leo!" Theodora snapped, stopping Leo mid-gesture. The girls laughed.

Mfon arrived and she hugged each of them tightly. Then she took pictures of them scribbling on their shirts, making weird faces, exaggerated gestures, sitting on a lion sculpture and finally, of the three of them with their backs to the camera. The letters on their shirts read, "WE DID IT."

DEAR ME: FINAL EDITION

🥂

Mara fell on her bed, worn and exhausted. She had just finished packing her pots and zipping her bags shut. The room was empty, except for the bottle of water on the table, her handbag by the side and her sign out shirt on a nail above her bed. She would pack that last—she hadn't touched it since October 11.

Today was November 14. She had had a joyous signout. She had come back thoroughly exhausted to a surprise after party by her roommates. She had gone through the first phase of being a graduate, when the reality dawns on you so hard you question the past. She had defended her project. She had turned in her bound project work only the day before. That had been like a replay of her signout, except happier and sadder at once. On October 11, it had been only joy. Today, it was only sadness.

Her roommates had all left for home in the morning. The session was over. She still remembered the tight hug that they shared. The pressure clung to her heart and her memory. Yesterday, Leo had said his goodbye. He had told her that he would go to his brother's at UNEC before returning for Lagos. He had held her hand and kissed her cheek before the last goodbye. Theodora's perfume was still in the air. She had clung to Mara and wept so hard it took everything in Mara not to cry too.

It was over. The goodbyes had been said. The work had been done. Everything was finally over. Tomorrow, she would take the first bus home. She was happy, and sad too. She was returning to her world, but she had already made a home in this world. In the den.

To pass the lonely hours before morning, she picked up her phone and waltzed through her gallery, looking for pictures, videos, memories. There were a few of them from her first year, fewer from her second year, quite a number from her third year. Nearly half her gallery was jammed with final year pictures. From their first lecture, to final year week, to signout, to defense. Theodora had been sure to get every day on camera.

"Are you guys ready?" Mfon's voice came from the phone. Mara beamed at the video. It showed her, Leo and Theodora facing the camera. They had sheepish smiles on their faces. Mfon continued, "Can I get a we?" Mara watched as she cheered hello in Korean before jumping around and brandishing her customed shirt. "Can I get a did?" Leo cooly twisted so he backed the camera. Mfon laughed. "Can I get an it?" Immediately, Theodora swaggered forward a little, boomed "Yo!" and turned her back for all to see.

"We did it!" They cheered together and the video cut.

"We did it. What next?" Mara asked sadly and gulped a sob. She sat up thoughtfully, taking in her room and the memories of a year they echoed. Time had been very swift, she still remembered the first day of her session as a finalist. Then she sighed and opened her notepad to type.

Dear Me,

You first wrote to me as an ex-fresher, ecstatic to have run the first lap of your academic journey, elated to not be called a fresher anymore, excited about what lay ahead. It was a far cry from the nervous young thing you had been, looking out your window, thinking of the journey ahead. The journey to the den.

I closedy eyes and opened them, and you were in your second year, running your second lap. I remember the exhaustion in your letters, the pain in your voice. They don't call it the den for no reason, and you were seeing its stark shadows. Your letter gave me hope that in spite of the difficulty, you would pull through.

You did, and in your penultimate year, you were as dreamy as ever, telling me of all the things you wished to do, all the memories you wanted to make, all the pictures you hoped to take. I still recall you daydreaming with ice-cream in your mouth. How many plans you had for final year. How eager you were to meet the end.

You should know now, but if you're still asking, no, you didn't get to walk the length of UNN. Final year promises not a free moment to revel in idleness or extracurricular thrills. You spent most of your time writing your project and grumbling about your countless assignments.

On the bright side, you did go to Odim after your signout, so yes. You can answer proudly when they ask. It was a beautiful experience on the hill there. You felt so close, if you reached out, you could touch heaven. I'll never forget it, that feeling of being lifted from the existential life we humans live.

Yes, you watched a stage play. Not Fela, but it was beauty for the ashes of all the plays we missed. Let's watch more in the future. I don't think I've ever loved the theatre more than I do now.

No, you didn't take Leo and Theo out. They took you out instead, and they were not so cruel as to make you ogle a spinning rotisserie. You ate a nice meal and had your first champagne. Although it was a harmless little shot—a toast to friendship—let's keep it as a secret from your parents.

You had so much fun in your final year, even though you didn't get to sleep over at the library or sit on the FASA signpost for your signout. Yes, you were stressed and billed. You were burdened with so much work and pressured over your degree exams. Yes, you fell ill twice and almost gave up one teary night at church. Still, you pushed on. You hid your scars, your bruises, and wore the biggest smile to celebrate with your friends. You sang, danced, shouted, took thousands of pictures! You created memories that will last forever. You enjoyed your journey to the fullest.

May I ask, what does the end of a journey feel like for you? A triumph? A tribute? A win? A loss? Do you feel happy about how far you've come, and look back at the road behind you with a glint in your eyes? Do you think of the pain you suffered trying to get there, and mourn the bits and pieces of yourself that you hurt along the way? Do you celebrate at the finish line, happy to have crossed it at last? Or do you tear up at the thought of having to say goodbye to all the people you journeyed with?

I began this journey with nothing but the hope of ending it. I thought so much of the ribbon waiting at the end. I learnt new things, made friends, got to discover myself and kept pushing to the one day when it would all be over.

Well, it's over. I'm a graduate. The "under" has been thrown under. It took the first week to really, actually realize that October 11 had happened. I'm a graduate, I'd say. I did it, I'd cry. I even hung my shirt up so I could look at it every morning and remember that, yes, I had reached the end of the road.

I remember being asked, how does it feel to be a graduate? To have conquered the all-stressful final year, to have revelled in the euphoria of a graduate-in-a-bit, to have signed out. How does it feel?

To me, it feels... Strange. Hollow, odd, like a burden is missing. It's a relief but you got so used to the weight that you find living without it uncertain. It feels sudden, like life's finally accepted your job application.

I've hoped for this so much! I've toiled for it. I've envied it with my friends, wanted it with every part of my being! It's mine now. I finally get to do all I dreamed of. And that's sad, because I don't get to do it with the people I dreamed with. I have to say goodbye to the ones I love, and the ones I swear I'll never forget. I write letters, make posts, send stickers, trying to make the best of the little time we have left together. But it's not enough to quell the swell in my well of emotions. My nostalgia is bursting through, making me wish there was a time machine so I could revisit and relive every moment of laughter, of joy, of sheer bliss.

It'll be alright, you say. The end is simply a beginning of another journey. "After school, what next?" doesn't have to be a scary question. It's a beautiful question, pregnant with hope, life and new adventures. Although we have to let go of this ending, we're sure we'll reach another finish line. Another milestone. Youth service? Getting a job? Falling in love again... life's only beginning for us. It's a journey that continues through time, leaving us with more memories to cherish before the ones already in our hearts are cold and forgotten. You and I, we'll be fine.

Dear me, I've met you at last. I had imagined you as my past self, looking through a window into a sky of stars. I have written to you as my future alter ego, beckoning me to your present, wishing me a final year as happy as yours. Now I see you, I realize you were me all along. Me reminiscing the past, living in the present and dreaming of the future.

One last time, I write, to tell you how proud I am of you, of me, of us! For not giving up. For succeeding. For letting go. For looking ahead. In Theodora's words, "Let's do life together." Let's step into this uncertain future, anxious, hopeful, sad and happy. Let's open this new chapter. Let's begin this journey together.

Yours,

Me.

Thank you so much for being with me in my journey through the den. Your presence made all the difference and assured me that I was loved. See you in the future, with more stories to tell. But for now, I'd appreciate your comments.