Am I not my alma mater?

Most people like to remain connected to their alma mater. We love to keep the tales of the pains and gains and to proudly connect with those institutions that at some point were like unto us nursing mothers. Conversely, we cringe - and some even go into denial - when we learn of unbecoming developments about our former schools. Shamefully, hardly are the images of many institutions nowadays anywhere near where they were in the times past. Some are undoubtfully already in the mud, and it doesn't seem like they are coming out any time soon - at least, there doesn't seem to be efforts in that direction yet, certainly not yet. Did I say some? I bet most should have been more accurate but I guess I speak only in part because I know only in part. 

In this hurridly written piece, I engage in a conversation with myself on the subject matter of alma mater.  I am drawn in by the predominantly woeful tales coming out of most institutions these days. And although I could worry and I could pray, I'd rather dedicate those energies to not becoming part of the emerging tales of woe.

If you read reports from most institutions these days right from the primary schools to the higher educational institutions, not only are the stories getting more horrifying, most are also very badly written. Some are so badly written in terms of grammar and structure. Most are so badly written to make the story look like fake news. It reminds me of the advice you get now and then on how to detect fake alerts or fake customer care calls from your bank; when the words are wrongly spelt, when the message is badly written or when the caller is using wrong grammar etcetera. 

In spite of this seeming confusion, and sadly too, most of these stories are not fake. While this is so sad, I worry less and perhaps care less about all these things these days. In the past, I'd worry and go to work on changing the narratives. Did my worrying and working in the past change anything? Did it not take huge sacrifices for me not be changed myself? Worrying won't ever change anything; at best it gives you a headache and you lose some sleep and by the time you come of it, the story has moved further down the line of wackiness. Happily, working works but only if the energy and effort are channelled in the right direction, usually on the worker.

Won't people call me a quitter? Won't it seem as though I am giving up? Neither do I care about being seen as a quitter. Nor do I worry about being mistaken for a spineless dude. I am wise enough to know the futility of bitting the huge Iroko tree to make dew drops fall. Besides, I know from my little training in martial art that escape is a veritable form of defence. 

And I get it, most people are concerned because they feel for their alma mater becoming a ghost of its past. Without sounding as though I am preaching, isn't that what happens to everyone and everything at some point down the line? I used to be sentimental about my alma mater; I used to say "oh, look at what they are doing to my alma mater, can you imagine what they are doing to the structures and systems we built, see how the rules we lived by are getting thrown away and the things we valued dragged in the mud". However, when I reflect on the true meaning of the phrase alma mater, I stopped worrying. 

Alma mater is a Latin phrase that roughly translates as "nourishing mother", "nursing mother", or "fostering mother". Is not what mothers do is to raise the children and then set them free? Even where the children carry the mother's brand, do the children not live for and represent their own personalities? I know children whose mothers died or became different people but who (the children) did not lose their heads? Wait, actually, not only do I know people like this, I have actually interacted (and still interacting) with many of such wonderful people on my journey. If these interactions teach me anything, that will be the fact that clean meals do come out of a black pot without the colour of the pot reflecting on the content of what it produces. 

And talking about alma mater, is what we call alma mater not only a set of buildings and people? Do buildings not grow old and lose their glow with some getting rebuilt and many others abandoned? Do people too not always come and go with some remembered and others forgotten?  What if the institution ceases to exist, will I stop existing or will I lose my head? What if the institution is relocated, will I relocate the ideals that it taught me? 

If all these questions are relevant and if what will never go is the person I am because of the knowledge and skills I obtained from the institution, then am I not my alma mater?

The answer to these questions is I am my alma mater. I carry the nurturing that my former institution gave me. I represent the brand that my alma mater represents. And as long as I do not let my knowledge and skills become corrupt, as long as I do not become corrupt, then my alma mater is intact in all its glories and grandeur.

I am neither preaching complacency nor do I mean to discourage people from exploring ways of addressing anti-social developments and attempting to seek interventions that can bring back lost glories. Rather, I am advocating a more realistic approach to how we see and relate with sentiments around alma mater. 

I am envisioning dedicating less energy to rescuing our boat that is sinking because it has a hole in it. I am advocating focusing more of our energies on not drowning with our sinking boat. I am advocating taking the lessons we learnt from our encounters with the sinking boat to make sure we do not become boats with holes too so that we ourselves do not sink. That is what I will do, and I shall not cease to do. I am my alma mater and it is up to me to keep its glories alive and its flag flying high. Like me, you are your alma mater. And if everyone sees themselves in this light even those putting holes in the boat will divert their energies to keeping the boat afloat. Keeping the boat afloat is important for at least two reasons: one we get to keep the boat and two, we get to travel safely. Keeping the boat and travelling safely means we can make plans for what happens when we arrive. And when we arrive, we can all get to work to nurture the mothers that nurtured us when we knew only but little.