I PAID WAEC FEES FOR A BOY I BARELY KNEW, 10 YEARS LATER, HE WALKED INTO THE INTERVIEW ROOM HOLDING MY DESTINY-

I was an average teacher, teaching at a small public school in Ibadan. One evening after school, I found a boy at my gate, quiet, nervous and holding a torn exercise book.

“Aunty please, I heard you help students. My WAEC form deadline is tomorrow. My mother is sick. Please, just help me write the exam.”

I look at him and I can't remember having him in any of my class, I didn’t even know his name. Never taught him before but something in his honesty touched me. The form was ₦19,500. I had only ₦21,000 in my account.

I paid for it. So happily He thanked me and disappeared.

Years passed. I forgot about him. As Life got harder I even lost my teaching job. My mother died. I moved to Lagos to start over.

Moving over to Lagos, it wasn't easy as securing a new job was almost impossible.

I applied in companies, handed out my CVs and begged for small contracts. Finally, I got an interview at a multinational company.

One chance. I dressed my best. I prayed harder than ever. I promised myself I must get this job.

When I entered the interview room, the HR assistant told me:

“The final decision will come from our new Regional Director. He’s young but brilliant.”

I nodded, nervously.

Then the door opened. He walked in.

Tall. Confident. Well dressed.

He looked at me… and froze.

At that point with the way his eyes were fixed on me I thought to myself did I do something wrong or he doesn't like me ?

“Excuse me... were you once a teacher in Ibadan?"

I blinked.

Stammering, I said Yes Government Secondary School.”

He smiled — eyes suddenly glassy.

I felt this sudden relief and peace within me

Then he said to me look at me closely don't you remember me ?

“You paid for my WAEC.” 10 years ago.

He paused the interview.

Told everyone in the room:

“I am who I am because one woman saw me as more than just a poor boy.”

“I owe her my entire career.”

Then he turned to me and said:

“This job is yours. But more than that, you have a seat at any table I sit at — for life.”

EPILOGUE - THE BOY WHO BECAME A BRIDGE

Today, I work in that company. Not just as staff but as a board advisor on youth outreach.

He started a scholarship in my name. I now mentor girls from villages across Nigeria.

Sometimes, he still calls me Aunty Teacher and whenever I see him in suits & ties, I remember that day he stood at my gate, holding a torn book.

And I realize…

God was testing me with a seed. And I almost missed the forest it would grow.

“Kindness is a seed — it always finds its way back to the giver.”

Sometimes you don't have to have much to give little, been kind have a way of rewarding us even when we least expected it.

Been kind doesn't cost anything.