12/08/2026
My wife is a good storyteller.
Over time, she has revealed that some of the stories she tells are fictitious. She creates them herself.
Yet, if you were not told, you would hardly believe they were made up.
When she tells a story, you can see the passion in her eyes as she dramatises the events, mimics her non-existent characters and brings the whole thing to life.
Had she developed this skill further, perhaps, she would have become another Chinua Achebe!
Recently, she told me a story about what happened on the day of her graduation.
She was already quite mature at the time—slightly older than most of the other students in her set.
As part of the signing-out exercise, most of the students bought expensive new clothes. My wife says she bought neither a new outfit nor did she use any of her old clothes, because she simply did not see the need for the signing-out exercise.
She also observed that the exercise often resulted in students having their expensive uniforms ruined with all sorts of writings.
On their signing-out day, she was dressed in her departmental uniform. As students came around, one after another, to scribble on her clothes, she objected.
Instead, she demanded gifts from them in exchange for sparing her uniform.
Interestingly, once they heard her response, they would simply move on to another person who was willing to let them write on their clothes.
By the end of the day, she had successfully prevented anyone from writing on her uniform.
But then came the photographs.
She borrowed a departmental uniform that had already been covered with signatures and writings, and posed for photographs with it alongside the other students—while keeping her own uniform perfectly intact!
I started this story by telling you that my wife creates stories.
But this particular one actually happened.
Now, here is my question:
What is your take on the signing-out exercise as it is practised by students upon graduation?
Is it a meaningful tradition—a way of preserving memories and celebrating friendship—or is it simply an unnecessary practice that sometimes leads students to destroy perfectly good clothes?
And, most importantly, was my wife right to borrow someone else's already-signed uniform for the photographs while preserving hers?
Personally, I think she found a rather brilliant way to have the best of both worlds! 😂
