A little sum' sum' about myself, well not a little but its not everything so just a little;
ooh, don't be surprised, according to Dr Nyo Nyo Htwe (Beginning to wonder if that was his real name) in London Borough of Islington, 1996, I was diagnosed as having high frequency severe sensory neural hearing loss at the Royal National Throat and Ear Hospital. Some of you may have known already or perhaps noticed by now that indeed i am hearing impaired.
I was born in Camden, North London in 1994 on the 26th June on a Sunday. For all of my forgotten life, I grew up in Caledonian road but unfortunately moved to Milton Keynes before my 4th birthday for a quieter more appropriate living for my family. I spent most of my childhood going on trips and eating basically and sadly i don't know so much about my growing up but what i do know was that i was a mummy's girl and fat as. I truly looked up to my sister Sandra to a large amount and really wanted to be like her, everything i had an interest in was Sandra's own; the appalling fashion sense, the terrible hairstyles and the attitude. However, I was an undoubtedly quiet kid who loved the Bratz and often pretend to be the news person from BBC news filming with my father's video recorder in my room with my duvet hanging behind me as a sophisticated enough background. I was also very fond of playing school and bossing my friends about. My holidays involved (every year for every Easter and Summer) going away to Wales and Skegness for over 2 weeks then spending the rest of our holidays going to the park and licking ice cream outside with my friends; it sounds boring but we were so easily entertained then.
2004, I was placed at a school - Castle First School - over 4 miles from home with a department shared with people just like me; hearing lossers' (don't worry, i am aware that it is not a word). Sadly my school got burnt down overnight and we were all transferred to another school within a week, so i missed what, a spelling test and my turn to read in English. This school was just bigger but no better - Chestnut School.
Around this period my holidays became much more stimulating!! ; we would spend our whole summer living in America and returning straight back to school. Mum would take us up to Scotland just because, we would have weekend trips to Alton Towers and Legoland. Trips to Bournemouth and Brighton for the day and visits to the local fairs. Government news, 2005 was the year all Primary Schools had to stop until Year 6 and the to-be Year 7s had to then be allocated to Secondary schools as the youngest year.This was my year - I was placed at an all white school in a village - Hanslope School. I'm not even teasing, pupils thought i was fresh from Africa, some of whom have never seen a black person before! There I developed my love for novels and stage shows. We would go on field trips to the farm and write poetry for fun! Soon after I was moved again to Oakgrove School for year 8 which was then a newly built school. I spent most of my time hating the place and attending cheerleading classes. I was bottom level for Maths and Science and never did my homework. And once, i got into detention for chewing gum AS i was walking into school!? My classmates were amazing though and i used to love the canteen's pasta at lunchtime! Again this didn't last for long. I didn't wish to return and Sandra had a place at a Boarding School in Berkshire for the next academic year in September but i didn't.
Summer of 06', I flew to Nigeria, Africa for 5 weeks with my mother and my sister. We spent our time with families and friends, celebrating birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. The last few weeks were spent at my cousin's place in Calabar where my eldest cousin was attending a boarding School at the time. Our time was nearing for our return home and time was also running out for where i should be for the next academic year. Mum decided and i surprisingly agreed to enroll in the private boarding School in Nigeria - Access High School - for the next year, I was 14 years old. After registering and taking entrance exams, i was accepted and my mum and sister flew home without me. Before i was due to start, my uncle paid for maths tutoring at home to enhance my numerical performances and given textbooks to read from. I had to learn the national anthem before attending and was given a list of what to pack. I was not allowed personal clothes, no laptop, a mobile phone, magazines or any personal belongings. We were given a school uniform and an after-school uniform along with black sandals and white socks. Our hair had to be natural and braided and we were not allowed sweets or snacks! (My Auntie often snuck in sweets inside the toilet rolls we had to provide ourselves) This School was a painful £1700 a month and my mum really tried to do what was best for me. My classes was split boys from girls and our dorms were also separate. This was my daily routine; we would go for a 5am run before 7am breakfast, 8.30am was the bell for School until 4pm. Between this time we had to change into our after-school clothes then prep time was at 4.30pm until 6.00pm. Dinner was at 6.30pm then Prep was at 8pm to 9.30. Bed time was 10pm sharp. Lessons were; Science, Yoruba, Igbo, French, Maths, Art and English. Saturdays was cleaning day then talent shows in the evening and Sunday was church and hair day. All girls had identical plaits. I got beaten 3 times and fell for a one boy who suddenly hated me so it didn't last long. He was born in England but taken to be educated in Africa, presumably his father made the decision while the mother stayed put. After only 3 months, my mother called me to say i was accepted into the Boarding School in England and flew straight down to collect me. I said my goodbyes and returned to the UK.
Starting at MaryHare Grammar School in 2007 was hard, the cultural change and the routine was dramatically different but it didn't take long for me to fit in, well almost. I spent my next 4 years there undertaking my GCSEs and ALevels. Dressed up for Prom twice and became deputy Headgirl (it was a joint position actually). My first work experience was at St John's Primary School as a teaching assistant in 2009. 2010 I began filming for a documentary that was broadcast in February, 2011 on BBC3, it was called 'Deaf Teen, Hearing World', several others were also in this too. I revealed absolutely everything i could say about me and so did they. I then took a volunteer job at Willen Hospice Charity and worked there for 7 months, i would start at 9am and finish at 1pm. The advantages of working there was being able to use the till with training which i could apply in paid jobs and borrowing used books i didn't have to pay for!
Summer '12 was going to be a life changing experience for me and my friend Saffron, after weeks of raising money and researching everything, we flew with Singapore airlines to Cambodia for 3 and a half weeks. We had only just turned 18. We were working through 'Original Volunteers' at Hope Agency at Takeo in South of Cambodia. We were teaching several classes per day and travelling during the weekends. The experience was just a - m - a - z- i -n -g. We were free to do as we pleased, it was so beautiful. We discovered, we explored and we learnt. We returned to the UK and i went to a bunch of gigs and festivals before i was due to start my first year at University of West London to study Psychology full field!!! eeek was i nervous, no. but was i excited, i don't know. Was i going to like my course or hate it, i don't know! Was i going to make life long friends or meet the love of my life, i don't know!! Finally I also began my first paid job in August, 2012 in London at Earls Court as an event bar staff around the UK.
Wait.. I'm going to stop here now because erm.. i didn't actually mean to rattle on and words can appear to be visually tedious with no visual distinctiveness, well unless you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I'm still typing!? I actually talk too much you know. Okay i'm done. so done. for now. if you don't mind. no really i'm done.
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