POSTING DAILY, PASSING BARELY

Dear Diary__

My name is Nurudeen — a Muslim, a content creator, and a student. Before university, life was easy. I had a solid prayer routine, my content creation game was tight, and everything just seemed to flow. People around me believed I was born to create — it felt natural.

Then I got into university, and everything scattered like garri inside water.

At first, I thought I could handle it all — pray five times daily, film content, edit videos, and still ace my courses. Small thing na. Omo! that's until my CGPA dropped from 4.89 to 3.49. I called my brother to  explain what had happened, hoping for comfort but instead he yelled at me to stop creating content and focus on my academics.

   

Me keh?...there's no way I can possibly stop doing what i love just because of a minor setback. I told him point blank..."Egbon i no fit stop this thing oh... anything wey wan happen go happen.Haba! You don forget all my dreams ni?...i no fit oh".

The very next day, my dad called a family meeting...na once I burst laugh. I was certain the meeting was in relation to the discussion I had with my brother the previous day, so i simply didn't attend. All hell was let loose as my dad was at my hostel the next morning looking very Nigerian and very disappointed. We talked. He begged to try harder in school, i promised i would -- and i really did try.

I studied like never before. Highlighted notes, group study, sleepless nights — the whole package. Yet, when results came out, I had dropped again this time down to 1.77...i didn't understand what happened, i had read like crazy and still nothing.

I was confused. Frustrated. My parents called daily, sometimes to scold, sometimes to encourage. After a while, I stopped picking.

I withdrew from friends and coursemates.I barely attended classes and the times I even managed to attend I was always so lost like someone that mistakenly entered engineering class while studying Mass Comm. I even stopped praying. I became a shadow of myself. 

Like every struggling teenager... I considered suicide a few times.

Crazy thing is...despite all these, i was still very consistent with my content. I never missed a day. Wo....make una no dey believe wetin people dey do for social media oh!. People on social media were seeing cruise, meanwhile I was backstage crying under my ring light.

As cliche as this might sound, i found comfort in the most beautiful girl. Zara. She had the brightest smile and a laugh that could calm even the loudest storm in my chest.

 I be hard guy oh...but this babe changed me. I was just too lucky to have attended class the day she resumed. 

I wanted to be better just so she would notice me. I was always the first person in class, i read like maddd just so I would answer questions in class.

Exam came. I studied like my destiny depended on it — maybe because it actually did. Results came, and my CGPA finally started looking reasonable.

Una no go believe say this babe no look my side sha. All my attempts were futile. I tried and tried but still she no even shake.

News came later that she was betrothed to one Alhaji.

Omo..na once i rest.

But it wasn’t all for nothing. I had found my focus again. My grades improved. My content was thriving. And most importantly, I began to feel like myself — like Nurudeen, version 2.0.

This story isn’t to glorify hitting rock bottom. Please, don’t wait until your GPA starts looking like a data plan before you wake up. The goal is balance — If you truly love something — whether it’s content creation, music, fashion, whatever — you don’t have to let go of it just because life gets hard. But you also can’t afford to let one passion destroy other important parts of your life.

Me wey nearly run mad because I no fit balance my books and camera. If not for that short moment of clarity — and, yes, Zara — I probably wouldn’t have gotten back on track. It’s funny how sometimes God places people in our lives not to stay forever, but to light the way just long enough for us to find our own direction.

Now, I pray more. I plan better. I create with joy, not as an escape but as an expression. I’m not perfect, far from it. But I’ve learned that it’s okay to fall — what matters most is that you rise, again and again.

So, dear diary... this is me: Nurudeen. Muslim. Content Creator. Student. Human. Trying. Failing. Learning. And growing.

And to anyone out there reading this..Your life is your own story. Don’t let the algorithm write it for you.

             

                                   ~~NOTES FROM NOWHERE.